If we accept that the connection with art - works of art - does not end with a "one-time" encounter, then certainly among such works is "The Wall of Tears" - an object by Paulina Komorowska-Birger. The work, made of the artist's favorite material - glass, was arranged in the surroundings of the raw walls of her home. The moment of presenting the object was complemented by suggestive, sorrowful music that appeared in the background, almost merging with the wall, suggesting that the realization must be experienced continuously differently, even more intensely and deeply - with one's entire being.There are works that need to be listened to: reach the inner whisper, lean over them, and enter the rhythm of their existence. They not only speak to us with their own voice in this specific place and time but also continue to tell their story, uttering quiet words that release time or focused listening.
In "The Wall of Tears," you need to listen. "Hear the weeping of hundreds of thin glass threads that flow down from above." You need to separate the sad, almost begging for help sound of the saxophone from the quiet sobbing of the glass installation. Listen to its lament. Pick up the glass droplets scattered on the ground in cobblestones. These crystalline, tiny fragments, unintentionally caused by the artist but so meaningful, only enhance the impression. Looking at the "Wall of Tears," the words of the poet Leszek Aleksander Moczulski come to mind:
"Speak to the wall
shout at the wall
the wall will listen to you
the wall does not shout
the wall does not cry
the wall will listen to you..."
Paulina's "Wall of Tears" is a hidden dialogue with the famous wall in Jerusalem, in front of which Jews gather annually to mourn the destroyed Temple of Solomon. Yet, it is her own wall, her own ruins, from which there seems to be no escape. It is a Wall that will take you in, embrace you, shedding silent tears. Sometimes it is silent, and sometimes it will bring comfort. Although, after all, there is nothing - it is just a wall, through which it is difficult to pass to the other side, as Alice managed to pass through the mirror. It is not even known if there is another side - another world behind the wall, behind which there is only another wall - surrounding the place of presentation of the object. Yet there is something that gives hope - there is an escape route, a chance to overcome the sense of helplessness. As fragile and delicate as a glass, red ladder rising from the glass threads, climbing up and disappearing somewhere in the sky. So what if there are tears, what if there is pain, that the ladder means climbing the steps of experience, that each step - again tears, again pain - that is what is most important, another step overcome. The fragile ladder is encouragement. It is a path, like for the patriarch Jacob, to salvation and a way to heaven - so there is hope.
With this hope, Paulina leaves us. Although she reveals it to not everyone. The red ladder - climbing high and disappearing before our eyes - is placed with glass threads. So it is not the wall that is only a wall - there is a ladder that allows us to climb, to cross to the other side.
Only who will take this risk and make that effort?

Beata Frydryczak "The Wall of Tears" Poznań 1994