Viktor Dedek: What is behind the Wall
26. 4. – 21. 5. 2017
opening: 25. 4. 2017 from 6pm
curated by: Jen Kratochvíl
WHAT´S BEHIND THE WALL
Scene
The passageway of the space opens up from a corridor, which is simultaneously an office equipped with a white desk on dark metal legs, with a standard black computer and several chairs. The passageway is not decorated with any specific elements, it is neither a door, nor a door frame; we can literally describe it as an opening in a white wall with the dimensions of 141.5 cm wide and 209 cm high. A room opens up with the passageway which is 2.99 meters deep and exactly 6 meters wide. The front wall is made from fabric with a technical label Molino made from 200g/m2 cotton in the Shirting-white style and inflammable finish. The character of the wall is of a curtain, potentially a projecting screen and it offers slight movement. It is attached from the ceiling, from both sides and from the floor which makes it stable. The remaining walls are made from plaster painted white, the only anomaly can be found on the right side of the entrance and it is an alcove of the size 236 x 96 cm, half of which is taken up by a one-leaf wooden, horizontally tilting window with a metal handle on the side and a ventilating window above it about a third of the size of the tilting window. Both parts are placed in a one wooden frame, the bottom edge is located 90 cm from the ground, the space from the ceiling to the window measures 77 cm. There is an elongated white radiator (60 x 200 cm) under the window with a tube coming out of it and leading into the entrance wall. In the back corners there are two pairs of white outlets opposite each other installed in a charming symmetry 15 cm from the ground and 12 cm from the corners on an average. The floor is made up of flakeboards cut into rectangular shapes (243 x 62 cm) of light grey colour. The height of the space varies from 379 cm to 395 cm due to the arched character of the ceiling. A table with four legs and two boards made from natural pine wood is standing in the room; it is 112 cm high, the length of one side of the top square board is 40 cm, it is located in the position 198 cm from the side wall and 223 cm from the back brick wall. There is a newspaper on the top board.
A narrator is moving freely around the area.
——————————————————————————————————————
X: Post-truth.
Z: Oh yeah.
X: You’re not doing anything.
Z: You can dream, project, layer.
X: But first deny what is.
Z: Or just go back.
X: It’s a cycle, so it doesn’t matter which direction you take.
Z: But you should take in the concept as a whole.
X: Forward, backwards, stay in one place, and then it doesn’t matter.
Z: You lose your autonomy when it’s recorded.
X: You should try to discover it again in the process.
Y: I am reading “Age of Earthquake: A Guide to the Extreme Present” right now and I’m fascinated by the fact that I can actually say that I’m reading this book, which alone suggests a concept of a gradual linear passage through a text. At the same time this book is a curated selection of short statements and illustrations describing living conditions in the world defined by the Internet. It is much more meaningful to just leaf through, occasionally randomly stop, read a few words on the page and then go to a completely different page and repeat the same process. Just like one does daily when browsing on the Internet. What does it say about me? What does it say about reading per se? What does it say about the relation of image and text? If this linear reading is my own construction based on the conventionalized and strongly rooted system of perception, which goes against the character of the book, then I can use a similar strategy also for other situations. If I perceive a book as a book, thus as a medium firmly defined many centuries ago, in spite of the fact that the given book crosses these parameters, then I am pushing its medial integrity more than those who placed it against that in first place.
X: …
Z: And what about the newspaper?
Y: If I turn over something already turned over, am I putting it back in its original state or am I offering new parameters to the thing turned over?
——————————————————————————————————————
The space is torn asunder, unevenly; whatever remains concealed can acquire any character. The space behind the wall is a space for imagination documented orally as well as textually. The fragile imbalance between oral tradition and printed word is tested on a daily basis. Linear classification and layering of information ceases to be relevant because we have reached a point where the degree of authority of the word stands on liquid sand. However, the image medium has already been so warped that it is incapable of taking the leading role. It is necessary to remain with the mental projection, individual as well as collective, individually as well as collectively created. It is necessary to offer the possibility of not searching for the final anchor and definition. It is necessary to accept the division of the virtual as well as physical space and find a way to go across and through any wall. It is necessary to avoid feeling a necessity.
——————————————————————————————————————
X: I got lost among my new cats, while I just lured one with a watermelon ball. I don’t have enough time to put them in my album, I’m losing gold fish.
Z: And what about the autonomy?
Y: To consider an earthquake as a constant condition of today’s world is not an exaggeration; we are all waiting for the next big moment and that does not necessarily have to be the calming of tremor.
——————————————————————————————————————
It’s snowing, thundering, it’s getting hot, the tree is stretching its branches in an anthropomorphic gesture. Is that taking place behind or in front of the wall?
Jeleni Gallery exhibition program is possible through kind support of Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, Prague City Council, State Fund of Culture of the Czech Republic, City District Prague 7
Media support: Artycok.tv, ArtMap, jlbjlt.net and UMA: You Make Art
