Rozhovory o zvuku 12 – Tomáš Vaněk
Tomáš Vaněk patří ke generaci, která na českou výtvarnou scénu nastoupila v polovině 90. let. Jeho tvorbu bychom mohli charakterizovat jako zkoumání prostoru „mezi“ – mezi realitou a fikcí, mezi umělcem a divákem, mezi tvůrčím a rutinním přístupem, mezi soukromým a veřejným, mezi percepcí a vědomím – anebo taky mezi předmětem a jeho stínem. Tomáš Vaněk je nositelem Ceny Jindřicha Chalupeckého za rok 2001.
Ve třináctidílném cyklu audio-rozhovorů, které vznikaly během podzimu 2013, hovoří Johana Švarcová s výtvarnými umělci, kteří ve své tvorbě různým způsobem využívají „nevizuální prvek“ – zvuk. Pro některé z oslovených umělců je právě práce se zvukem, sound art, vývoj nástrojů (hardware i software), radio art nebo zvuková instalace hlavní oblastí zájmu. Jiní naopak nakládají se zvukem nebo zvukovou stopou (například u videa) funkčně a po svém.
- Interviews on Sound00:00:07.847
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- Tomáš Vaněk00:00:09.784
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- I started to work with sound00:00:19.476
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- because of my friend František Václavík.00:00:21.962
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- He showed me binaural microphones in a restaurant in Pardubice.00:00:25.361
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- For me, it was a new thing,00:00:29.440
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- he showed me how it worked,00:00:31.865
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- he put the microphones into my ears,00:00:34.155
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- he recorded something,00:00:36.532
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- meanwhile the waitress came and asked us if we´d like anything.00:00:39.499
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- We ordered, I took the earphones to be able to listen to my friend´s record.00:00:43.456
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- Suddenly, the waitress appeared00:00:49.395
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- and I wanted to tell her that we had already ordered.00:00:51.020
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- I was amazed and impressed by this toy.00:00:53.579
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- I had to have it immediately,00:00:56.345
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- without thinking further about it,00:00:58.289
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- I didn´t know if I would make art with this technology,00:01:01.344
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- I was totally absorbed by the appliance or technology.00:01:04.087
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- I bought it, and for one year,00:01:07.578
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- I was recording hours and hours of sound,00:01:10.581
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- but I never listened to the records and used them in my work.00:01:14.894
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- However, I wanted to use it in my work without boasting with it.00:01:19.722
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- The technology is of a high-quality.00:01:26.757
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- If viewers listen to the record, they will think it is real.00:01:32.219
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- The technology copies a very natural mode of hearing.00:01:37.522
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- I started to think how to use it.00:01:44.448
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- I realized that the technology was able to evoke a real situation,00:01:48.569
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- and I started to work with it.00:02:00.935
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- I made my first artwork with this technology00:02:07.861
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- when I was on scholarship in New York,00:02:14.223
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- I got to know a volunteer who let me use00:02:17.241
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- her home for a while, she left me mobile, keys,00:02:22.959
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- and I would prepare a record specially for her.00:02:28.177
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- I asked her to show me the place where she likes relaxing.00:02:33.389
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- I told my assistant to sit there, I gave him binaural microphones.00:02:39.056
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- I recorded a situation when I came, rang the doorbell, used the keys,00:02:43.964
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- entered the flat and searched it, I ferreted about the flat like a stranger,00:02:53.058
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- I used all things that could make sounds, such as a paper shredder or a music player,00:03:03.084
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- I changed the pictures. I installed hook nails she had there,00:03:10.569
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- I used a drill without permission.00:03:17.821
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- I left the flat, dropped the keys into the briefcase together with the record.00:03:23.586
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- I told her to listen to the record only when she wanted and had enough time,00:03:30.165
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- and then she could send me her reaction.00:03:34.239
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- It was my first bigger artwork with sound, I called it a Participant.00:03:38.614
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- Her reaction was very positive, she named it an audio sculpture.00:03:45.236
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- She described me the whole process of listening00:03:49.550
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- that she made her time, put on the earphones,00:03:51.650
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- unfortunately, somebody came and rang the doorbell.00:03:57.408
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- She put off the earphones and went to answer the door,00:04:00.033
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- but there was nobody,00:04:02.762
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- she put on the earphones again, and again she went to open the door,00:04:04.248
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- but there was nobody, so for the third time...00:04:06.927
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- Then, she realized that the doorbell had been in the record.00:04:09.401
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- She told that it had been thrilling00:04:14.771
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- because the steps had been almost visible.00:04:17.248
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- Binaural microphones look like pits, like earphones,00:04:31.571
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- when a man put them into ears and have a recorder,00:04:37.939
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- it records the sound.00:04:43.551
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- They are placed in the ears because they have to imitate our physiognomy.00:04:46.347
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- We have ears on left and right side of our head.00:04:53.000
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- The technology is inspired by our physiognomy.00:04:57.259
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- I don´t want to call it a disadvantage,00:05:04.266
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- but binaural microphones cannot be used without earphones.00:05:06.723
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- It is not possible to use them through loudspeakers.00:05:11.408
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- I think it is right because of their development,00:05:17.587
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- they are inspired by human ears, by their position.00:05:23.088
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- As the microphones are put into the ears,00:05:30.210
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- there must be something emitting the sounds back into the ears,00:05:35.888
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- it means the earphones.00:05:38.727
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- I don´t mind it. Since the beginning I have seen a relationship00:05:42.443
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- between a man who emits or creates, and the other who listens or receives.00:05:45.161
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- It creates a basis of a relationship between production and presentation,00:05:52.159
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- which is here clearly defined.00:05:56.966
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- I don´t think of crowds, but of a man, I relate to an individual.00:06:01.676
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- The principal problem I am dealing with within the installation of sound system,00:06:18.074
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- also in relation with video or film,00:06:28.463
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- what it means to record an image with sound or to add a sound to the image lately.00:06:31.551
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- It is the most essential question needed to be answered.00:06:38.211
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- But I still feel that in the relation of image and sound00:06:40.800
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- there is a kind of synthetic schizophrenia.00:06:42.616
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- For me, there is a separation.00:06:45.571
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- Of course, artists try to solve this problem,00:06:47.381
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- but in my opinion, there is no solution.00:06:54.320
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- I mean, I know about people who paint an image and add sound.00:06:56.185
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- However, I think the image doesn´t need sound, at all.00:07:02.970
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- In my opinion, they are two totally different media00:07:07.914
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- and it´s extremely difficult to put them together.00:07:10.835
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- Because, with the reference to Cage,00:07:15.529
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- observing a painting can be also considered a sound artwork00:07:19.001
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- due to the sounds naturally appearing there.00:07:25.978
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- Nevertheless, the situation itself makes us deaf and orders us only to look,00:07:28.874
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- which is fine, but on the other hand, there are still sounds.00:07:34.695
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- When I use binaural microphones,00:07:38.902
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- I want to install it just for sound perception.00:07:42.331
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- The images coming out are products of listening.00:07:49.827
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- Lately, I have been intrigued by the work with writings.00:08:13.938
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- First time I was asked by designers to make a proposal00:08:20.684
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- for a print of a bowl. The project was called "Super Bowl".00:08:26.065
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- I got a white bowl, the assignment was clear,00:08:29.736
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- I was asked to make a proposal for a blueprint on a white bowl.00:08:32.690
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- I wanted to make an easy thing,00:08:39.384
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- I took the bowl in my hand, in my fingers, I looked at it,00:08:41.374
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- I took a blue marker, and I copied my fingers,00:08:47.546
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- I defined the place for lips, for a drop flowing down,00:08:54.199
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- I wrote what the bottom meant, where the reflection of the room was.00:09:04.778
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- Finally, it was a description and simultaneously, a decoration.00:09:11.764
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- Next time, I was in mini NoD.00:09:22.963
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- I covered the place in writings with a black marker.00:09:26.367
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- For example, I wrote on the ceiling that "the ceiling was thinking of the floor".00:09:31.345
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- And I wrote on the floor that "the floor knew about it".00:09:36.439
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- On the wall, I wrote that "the wall was jealous".00:09:39.825
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- I covered the space with facts.00:09:43.874
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- I wanted the space to speak out through a story.00:09:48.271
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- The third artwork took place in the Gallery Školská 28.00:10:02.951
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- There was a noticeboard, I covered it with writings.00:10:13.973
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- The noticeboard was full of pin holes,00:10:22.124
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- the pins were strangely ordered,00:10:30.707
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- I realized that the notice board was as high as me00:10:37.204
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- when I raised my right hand.00:10:41.799
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- I stood near the right corner, took a marker00:10:46.957
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- and wrote: "This is the position of my right hand".00:10:52.147
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- and I made a circle, into the right low corner I wrote: "This is my right thigh".00:10:55.401
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- With a license of irrationality, and present feelings,00:11:04.777
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- I tried to observe the situation, and the descriptive, factual mode00:11:09.824
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- offering me attractive poetics, although it is factual,00:11:14.625
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- I can dare to be seemingly incomprehensible.00:11:17.472
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- Everything covered in my writings is prepared for emotional decoding.00:11:22.994
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- Everyone can decode it, he sees the fingerprints,00:11:38.291
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- and realizes that it is the place, where the artist held the bowl.00:11:40.579
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- And then he sees the word "draught" written on the bowl.00:11:46.288
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- For me, it is poetic.00:11:47.546
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- If I could have a pen with the ability to write into the air,00:11:49.087
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- I would write everything into the air,00:11:58.019
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- even in a railway station restaurant.00:12:01.233
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- I would be there, I wouldn´t think of my train departure,00:12:04.358
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- and I would observe all the situation,00:12:06.923
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- and I would write it into the air,00:12:09.826
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- I would like the writings to be able to maintain in the air for a while,00:12:14.641
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- and I would leave.00:12:17.846
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- For me, it is a very healthy concept00:12:22.405
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- how to be mindful in situations and activities.00:12:25.406
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- The hearing directs us although we are not realizing it.00:12:37.358
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- For example, thanks to the hearing,00:12:49.771
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- we can walk, we have balance, so we don´t fall down.00:12:53.425