“ALE LIPA / Monument of Anger” is a project situated at the intersection of performance, symbolic gesture, and a social laboratory of emotions. Within the urban landscape—dense with haste, tension, and unspoken affects—the artist establishes a point where language, the body, and community regain the right to express themselves.

At the center of the work stands the silver linden, commonly known as the “Warsaw linden.” A species remarkably resistant to pollution and urban exhaust, it becomes a catalyst for anger and a guardian of relief. In Polish, the word lipa carries a dual meaning—both the name of a tree and an idiomatic expression for disappointment or something gone wrong, “a flop.” The project plays with this linguistic ambiguity, weaving humor, wordplay, and emotional release into a single performative gesture.

The linden—traditionally associated with soothing and calming properties—becomes a figure of transformation. It is onto this tree that one may transfer frustration, grief, or helplessness, leaving behind what is often too heavy to carry alone. In a time of escalating social tensions, communication breakdown, and the growing constraints of political correctness, the “Monument of Anger” creates a safe space for emotions deemed undesirable.

The project brings together intimacy and collectivity. Anyone may come here to shout, cry, remain silent, hug the tree, or simply exhale the weight with one liberating phrase: ale lipa—“what a mess,” “what a crap situation.” This gesture becomes both an act of personal cleansing and a performative declaration of regained agency.

The linden assumes the role of an “emotional witness”—a living archive that gathers within its rings the traces of human moods, anger, and hope. “ALE LIPA / Monument of Anger” is thus not only an artistic action but also a symbolic emotional infrastructure of the city: a place where the unspoken can be heard, and where the shared experience of relief finds its natural, organic form.