Machines without a case
Kal Spelletich (b. 1960, Davenport, Iowa, USA) presents a collection of interactive installations created during his residency at MeetFactory. An amiable interactivity meshes with sinister mechanicality in his playful installations combining punk and Dada. Apart from combustible mixtures and explosives, Spelletich works mainly with scavenged refuse, with the goal of giving it a new life that is often quite different from its original purpose. In a way, Duchamp meets Mad Max.
We also introduce Czech artist Richard Loskot (b. 1980 in Most) as the guest exhibitor. Loskot has a long-standing interest in the workings of mechanical and electronic systems that operate in open-ended algorithms and cycles, resulting in surprising combinations and strange situations.
- Hello Praha! It's me, I'm here.00:00:02.709
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- A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P.00:00:06.185
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- I built a bunch of flying trees.00:00:11.516
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- Obviously,00:00:15.313
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- our globe has some environmental problems00:00:17.313
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- so I thought I'd make Frankenstein,00:00:20.854
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- dystopic trees,00:00:23.889
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- melting technology and nature together,00:00:26.310
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- making trees that can take off00:00:30.538
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- and maybe leave the orbit of the planet,00:00:33.958
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- having no use of us silly humans any more.00:00:39.051
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- Maybe they can repopulate other planets.00:00:42.872
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- So, I made flying trees.00:00:46.417
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- I work in construction, build houses,00:00:53.737
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- I do a lot of car repairs as well.00:00:58.660
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- That's the great thing about art -00:01:02.931
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- if you don't make that work, no one else will.00:01:06.135
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- If you're an accountant, or a car mechanic,00:01:11.140
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- or a construction worker like me,00:01:14.640
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- someone else can do that work.00:01:17.986
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- If I don't repair a guy's car,00:01:20.986
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- someone else will do it.00:01:23.986
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- But no one can replace you as an artist.00:01:26.995
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- And that's the amazing thing about art,00:01:30.601
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- it's what makes it so magic.00:01:34.101
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- I've done this kind of work for 25 years,00:01:37.208
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- using art and technology.00:01:40.861
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- Before that it took me about 5 years00:01:43.467
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- to find art and technology.00:01:46.697
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- I tried photography, painting, drawing,00:01:49.448
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- performance, I was in a band...00:01:52.948
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- I tried it all.00:01:56.198
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- I think technology is going to make,00:01:59.096
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- or to break the planet, to save us or kill us.00:02:02.596
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- Now it's doing both:00:02:06.940
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- curing diseases and making life easier,00:02:09.440
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- but there are also nuclear disasters00:02:13.336
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- destroying the planet.00:02:17.736
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- My art is about that.00:02:20.606
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- It's about both, I think.00:02:23.002
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- What am I supposed to do?00:02:27.729
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- I'm here, what should I do?00:02:30.729
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- Art is giving me a voice,00:02:33.528
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- a dialog with the planet.00:02:36.595
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- It's brought me to Prague, to Africa, India,00:02:39.595
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- all over America,00:02:44.070
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- and maybe ten other countries in Europe.00:02:46.570
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- What a great, amazing, fantastic job, wow!00:02:50.604
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- I didn't even dream that I could do this.00:02:56.754
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- In Africa I built a rocket in a plain,00:03:00.206
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- and we launched it across a valley.00:03:03.706
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- In India I did all pyrotechniques.00:03:07.226
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- Each time I try to feel the soul00:03:11.737
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- of what the area is telling me,00:03:16.314
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- and try to interpret it.00:03:19.158
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- In this room you can see a turning tree00:03:26.206
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- with a camera transferring the digital image00:03:29.706
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- to the other room.00:03:33.706
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- I made that light shining behind me.00:03:36.381
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- It's reflected by means of mirrors00:03:40.130
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- through the 3 rooms to the last room00:03:43.412
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- where Kal has his projection.00:03:46.912
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- It contrasts the analog trajectory of light00:03:49.911
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- with the digital one.00:03:53.411
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- Kal's systems are more based on hardware.00:03:55.966
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- His trees are turned by motors,00:03:59.466
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- but as the trees sway,00:04:05.931
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- they produce some random events.00:04:09.277
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- The movement is not monotonous.00:04:12.357
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- My work you can see in the next room00:04:15.341
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- is made of smaller electronic systems.00:04:19.037
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- It consists of repeating electronic items,00:04:22.499
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- interconnected to generate chaotic events.00:04:25.999
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- They shouldn't be boring,00:04:29.540
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- they live their own lives.00:04:32.540
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- Yes, that was Kal's explosion we've heard.00:04:36.822
Simply told with a beautiful clearness, no artist bullshits nothing like that, I like that attitude.
Unlike Richard who describes it’s work in a technological way, how geeky it is. Who cares? Are you geek or artist?
Thanks for making it up.
Jan Twentyfortysix, lets make revolution
sure, lets fly for it.
so we flew