Trvalá proměna
„Trvalá proměna“ nebo „proměnlivé trvání“? Vyjde to nastejno, protože druhé slovo vyvrací první. Rafani vydali všanc galerii školákům a ti ji v mžiku změnili v obludnou kapli sv. Euforie. Vitální síla člověka jako oslňující a spalující záře, ale rovněž jako metafora hřmícího víru kolektivní psyché, vydrážděné emocionality a rozbitých desek společenské smlouvy. Rafani do tohoto prostředí vstupují s obrazy, které se dotýkají nervového systému společnosti a naší doby. O ní bychom rádi řekli, že se vymkla z kloubů. Kdyby nějaké klouby měla.
- The exhibition is titled Permanent Transformation00:00:00.400
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- and it's our first show in Prague in two years.00:00:02.900
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- The previous one we had at the Nevan Contempo00:00:05.500
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- and now we are here, at the Fotograf Gallery.00:00:09.050
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- It was curated by Jiří Ptáček00:00:11.450
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- with whom we have collaborated several times in the past.00:00:14.500
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- The installation is composed of several layers,00:00:17.600
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- one of them is what you see all around the gallery walls.00:00:21.700
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- We collaborated with a bunch of fifteen or so kids00:00:25.200
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- who got this space at their disposal00:00:29.600
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- based on our simple instructions.00:00:32.800
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- Then it was all up to them what appears here.00:00:35.950
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- Then there are three videos on display here,00:00:41.300
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- all of them created for this exhibition.00:00:45.200
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- It's probably typical of us, that for our solo exhibitions00:00:48.100
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- we create all new pieces, if we have the opportunity.00:00:52.100
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- Then there is another layer here and that is the merchandise.00:00:55.100
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- We exhibit here limited edition T-shirts.00:00:59.800
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- There are three designs here that work with some slogans00:01:04.500
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- that have interested us and that relate in some way to the topics explored here.00:01:08.100
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- Those are for sale, that's an important information.00:01:13.950
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- To exhibit our three videos here we chose to use this aggressive approach00:01:42.850
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- that could pull the viewer in and with the help of the children we created this setting00:01:48.950
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- as you can see here. The kids were granted total freedom.00:01:53.200
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- To us, children are a sort of metaphor of future00:01:58.450
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- and they have processed the given measure of freedom as they wished.00:02:02.400
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- Then it was important for us to put the videos into this framework.00:02:06.500
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- The videos reference to pop, to future, to a certain freezing of time perhaps.00:02:10.300
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- Documentation was an important part of the process00:02:17.050
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- for which which we used instant Polaroid photography.00:02:20.050
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- The pictures were taken throughout the action.00:02:23.050
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- the children have been accelerating,00:02:26.700
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- and they also could react to the pictures themselves.00:02:29.750
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- The time played it's important role there.00:02:32.900
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- To me the key seems to be the notion of time or temporality,00:02:52.750
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- work with freezing of time, or view of the future,00:02:56.850
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- which is not put to effect or which is frozen.00:03:01.800
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- After all, the title itself references some work with time,00:03:05.600
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- and it is enacted in the videos too.00:03:09.200
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- We work with various motifs that appear in the videos00:03:12.400
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- as well as in our action with the kids, with the motif of a child.00:03:17.700
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- One of the videos works with a simple physical action00:03:35.200
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- which always took place during the monthly siren test.00:03:38.850
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- Another is a static shot of a luxury design interior00:03:42.100
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- where a performance of a twerk dancer takes place00:03:47.700
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- and a pregnant girl with zombie make-up lies on the floor.00:03:52.200
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- The twerk dancer keeps repeating one set of moves.00:03:56.000
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- Important is the notion of looping.00:04:00.250
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- While the pregnant zombie is a play of a potentiality00:04:07.300
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- that cannot be realized, that can't climax in birth.00:04:12.050
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- Then there is another video...00:04:16.700
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- Less than a year ago we produced our first rap video00:04:19.100
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- with Dan Kranich and we thought it would be nice to do another one.00:04:26.600
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- The lyrics work around the motif of an oath (or promise).00:04:32.850
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- The rapper walks through a dead forest in Šumava mountains00:04:38.050
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- declaring the lyrics into the music composed by Aid Kid.00:04:43.800
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- It is perhaps very difficult for us to articulate this exhibition as a whole,00:05:10.100
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- perhaps we don't have enough of a distance yet.00:05:16.000
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- It is an open source of further inspiration to us.00:05:22.700
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- The things we have put together here00:05:29.550
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- may perhaps be seen as an attempt at some00:05:33.050
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- new political language, if we put it very loosely.00:05:38.950
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- It is not any specific political agenda, or judgements about politics,00:05:44.750
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- it's rather aiming somewhere behind the language of politics.00:05:52.600
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- On some symbolic level we can talk about political kitsch,00:05:57.800
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- such as children in the hands of politicians.00:06:04.700
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- There is endlessly repeated motif of promises or vows00:06:09.300
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- and some magical means of time.00:06:15.500
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- In fact we still want to enjoy ourselves with art.00:06:54.050
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- It is more and more important for us to approach art itself00:06:58.400
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- or perhaps a phenomenon of art for art's sake.00:07:03.400
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- In my opinion it is an important motivation00:07:10.700
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- why to relate to society as such through the language of art at all.00:07:15.750
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- I believe this is quite a unique exhibition in the context of contemporary art00:07:23.400
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- will prove its quality in more dimensions00:07:32.400
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- which I am not even able to pin down as of now.00:07:38.800
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- We didn't work here with some central theme,00:08:04.050
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- there is perhaps no central topic.00:08:07.500
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- The individual pieces are rather loose, but they do have some connections,00:08:11.600
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- and that may as well be pop culture.00:08:15.450
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- We don't define ourselves in some critical stance against pop culture.00:08:18.450
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- Quite the contrary, we see it as something ubiquitous, which we are a part of too,00:08:22.050
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- or the whole of contemporary art is a part of.00:08:26.500
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- As is usual to us we work with pop culture as a kind of metaphor.00:08:30.100
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- So if there is for instance this video with the zombie,00:08:36.150
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- and where there is Anet twerking around it,00:08:40.500
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- then the viewer might read it as a kind of potentiality00:08:44.100
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- as something that obviously can't be pregnant because it is dead,00:08:49.300
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- and then there is the element of dynamism, that adds some motion and energy.00:08:53.500
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- It relates to the title of the exhibition itself.00:08:59.950
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- Permanent transformation is also important for us, the members of our group00:09:04.300
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- which strives for further development. The view of the future is important to us.00:09:08.200
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- It is also important for to make this exhibition so that it is not be boring00:09:14.950
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- as we believe that -not only Czech- contemporary art slides into certain conservative boredom.00:09:18.800
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- So it was important to us to say no to boredom.00:09:25.900