Hard Disk Pieces

In 2007, when Martin Špirec received VŠVU President’s Award for his Master Thesis, I thought it was something extraordinary. Back then, Špirec’s installation was punk, shoddy and sophisticated at the same time. All those things were infantile trivialities. It was clear only from the multitude and volume of things that Špirec is being serious.
All of his works I have seen since then were good; Špirec created a lot of them and all of them are of equal, high quality. But it was one particular artwork that struck me. It comprised of two white-cleaned blocks, sort of gallery plinths propped against the wall and slightly detached from each other. There was nothing on top them, but above the wider one, there was water valve on the wall. One needed to look between them to see clearly what is going on there, and exact proportions of blocks and the valve only confirmed the origin. Stuck dried up spaghetti, disgusting stains of tomato sauce, and a layer of dust and oil only stressed the known weakness of every household – the space between a kitchen unit and an oven.
But that’s long time ago; Špirec has, of course, changed his focus since then. Sci-fi, thermally insulated churches, automobiles made from washing sponges and kitchen still lifes were replaced by prehistory, author’s self-stylization into Australopithecus, mammoths and dinosaurs. But the principles of his work have remained the same. Cheap DIY aesthetics, appropriated objects and situations, fast, unbelievably funny ideas and self-irony. I recommend a close look at his website; you’ll definitely enjoy it.
The exhibition in Plusmínusnula gallery makes no exception in his work; it is equally good, if not even better. Pieces From Hard Disk is a series of objects where banality and low-cost DIY aesthetics meet highbrow art. They are impertinent and stupid-ish installations that were, however, made over the years. Pieces From Hard Disk are artworks that had been set aside though originally intended to be realized or, on the other hand, that have been finished for a few years now, but in either case, they never have been exhibited. I won’t try and neither interpret their deep meaning nor provide their factual description. I don’t believe it’s worth it – you just have to see them.