The WALL is an archetype of limit. A social and political symbol — a boundary between people, nations, classes, and systems. It separates, protects, isolates.

Vlas Kuzma — The WALL, contemporary endurance performance confronting a concrete wall
The WALL by Vlas Kuzma — performance art between flesh and concrete

To stand before it means to enter into a dialogue with a dead end, to test the limit itself.

Geometry and flesh, concrete and softness, the fixed and the living.

In a world where every meter of wall becomes a metaphor for algorithm, indifference, bureaucracy, politics, the artist introduces an imperfect living vertical — a crack in the ideal façade.

Vlas Kuzma performing The WALL, a contemporary action against social and political barriers
Vlas Kuzma standing before a wall during an eight-hour art performance exploring limits and resistance

“I DON’T BELIEVE IN WALLS.”

Stoic opposition facing the concrete wall unfolds into an eight-hour act of endurance.

  • Hour 1

    • Active concentration, sympathetic tone engaged;

    • the back and leg muscles maintain balance, with fine tremors of the stabilizers;

    • the visual cortex is fixed on a motionless field;

    • breathing is steady;

    • overall state: focused, mildly excited.

  • Hour 2

    • Fatigue begins in small muscle groups;

    • the visual field starts to “float” — the brain loses contrast;

    • perception of scale begins to shift;

    • the wall seems closer, almost breathing;

    • attention fragments, with the first fluctuations between “control” and “automatism.”

  • Hour 3

    • Active concentration, sympathetic tone engaged;

    • the back and leg muscles maintain balance, with fine tremors of the stabilizers;

    • the visual cortex is fixed on a motionless field;

    • breathing is steady;

    • overall state: focused, mildly excited.

  • Hour 4

    • physiological dulling of pain sets in (endorphin compensation);

    • breathing rate decreases, the body shifts into an energy-saving mode;

    • perception of time distorts — each minute feels longer;

    • every touch of air on the skin becomes an event;

    • emotionally — mild depersonalization, a sense of being “split” from oneself.

  • Hour 5

    • fatigue sets in;

    • energy decline: glycogen levels in the muscles drop;

    • the eyes lose focus — “visual adaptation” to the static field occurs;

    • the skin grows colder, pulse slows down;

    • the psyche shifts into background mode — internal dialogue minimized.

  • Hour 6

    • the body produces more endogenous opioids → a subtle sense of calm or detachment;

    • pain perception decreases, but a vibration in the muscles becomes more pronounced;

    • an altered state of consciousness emerges: sluggishness, a hypnoid phase;

    • attention seems to “dissolve” into the surrounding space;

    • the psyche uses this as protection from stimulus overload.

  • Hour 7

    • overall metabolic stress accumulates: lactic acid levels in the muscles are elevated;

    • a sense of alienation;

    • breathing becomes slightly deeper — the body attempts to compensate for CO₂ buildup;

    • vision produces subtle light pulsations;

    • paradoxical calm — the body operates on autopilot, consciousness almost clear.

  • Hour 8

    • stage of exhaustion and adaptation simultaneously;

    • pain in the lower back, back, and legs is perceived as dulled;

    • state is close to meditative or post-stress: a sense of emptiness, fatigue, clarity;

    • eyes tear up — purely physiological reaction;

    • no emotions, no sense of achievement.