The real name
According to an important French philosopher of post-modernism J. F. Lyotard ( 1924-98) is modern art distrustful of „reality“ and that is why it doesn’t depict it but rather examines. Jan Haubelt also examines reality in his work and in the background of his exhibition called „The real name“ a report „Words, Objects, Pictures“ is shown. The aim of the report is not just to inform about the exhibition. A curator of the exhibition, an artist Michal Pěchouček features in the report to show the viewers who are not familiar with modern art where the traditional aesthetical qualities can be in the „aesthetically less profuse conceptual artworks“ found. These are for example wholeness, clarity, formal perfection or a basic aesthetical quality – beauty. Similar meaning has also the way Jan Haubelt explains his work. The aim of his explanation is to provide a less knowledgeable viewer with clues how the given works can be possibly (but not necessarily) perceived.
- According to the important French philosopher00:00:03.411
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- of postmodernity J.-F. Lyotard (1924-98),00:00:05.847
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- one of the fundamental features00:00:09.322
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- of modern art is a disclosure of00:00:10.525
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- principles of art as such, i.e.,00:00:12.342
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- a disclosure of principles of language00:00:15.401
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- through which art expresses itself.00:00:17.976
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- This takes place in an experiment00:00:20.507
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- which constitutes, according to Lyotard,00:00:22.794
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- another basic feature of modern art.00:00:24.276
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- By means of the disclosure of the principles00:00:27.724
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- of its own language, modern art00:00:30.182
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- allegedly dissolves the very essence00:00:32.328
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- of art as such.00:00:34.326
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- Art reveals this essence to the spectator00:00:35.835
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- in its fundamental aspects.00:00:38.183
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- What modern art after all discloses00:00:41.609
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- through this strategy is vision itself00:00:43.587
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- and the usually not visible00:00:46.926
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- (not object-like) conditions00:00:49.300
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- that make possible vision as such.00:00:51.584
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- Lyotard's famous analyses take place00:00:54.730
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- within the context of00:00:57.211
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- the interwar avant-gardes that00:00:57.542
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- gave birth to movements such as00:00:59.409
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- minimalism, abstractionism, conceptualism.00:01:01.512
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- A kind of a synthetic and unique form00:01:05.626
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- of actualisation of these movements00:01:08.432
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- can be also perceived in the work of00:01:11.105
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- the artist Jan Haubelt.00:01:12.707
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- The classical representative (mimetic)00:01:14.539
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- art, primarily understood00:01:16.710
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- as a window through which one can00:01:18.584
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- enter the world represented,00:01:20.004
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- is basically seen by Lyotard as well as00:01:22.707
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- T.W. Adorno (1903-69) as00:01:23.763
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- an "ideological" art: such art00:01:26.564
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- depicts "only" the ancient or00:01:29.935
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- Christian myth, the order00:01:31.531
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- of the human world.00:01:33.991
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- Modern art, within the frame of which00:01:36.006
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- Haubelt's work is also found,00:01:38.400
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- is however quite distrustful00:01:40.783
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- towards reality itself and that is why00:01:42.377
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- it does not represent it;00:01:44.941
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- it rather examines it.00:01:45.693
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- I leave it to you to consider00:01:47.619
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- whether another aspect could also be00:01:49.605
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- applied to Jan Haubelt's work,00:01:50.800
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- an aspect that Lyotard thought00:01:52.332
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- characteristic of modern art.00:01:53.656
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- Modern art supposedly brings00:01:55.615
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- into play intellectual elements00:01:57.769
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- that cannot be perceived through senses00:02:00.006
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- but which, under certain conditions00:02:04.297
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- (of knowledge of the history of art)00:02:06.895
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- form a part of the aesthetic00:02:08.977
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- experience and cognitive gain.00:02:11.405
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- Modern art is art that is intellectual00:02:13.791
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- and sublime for in the spectator's00:02:17.108
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- imagination it launches an infinite,00:02:19.589
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- and therefore inherently ungraspable,00:02:21.979
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- disturbing if not unpleasant00:02:24.558
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- production of sensations -00:02:27.179
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- like the gigantic rock massives00:02:29.020
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- of big mountains.00:02:31.044
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- "WORDS, THINGS, IMAGES"00:02:35.490
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- Jan Haubelt: By the Right Name00:02:39.118
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- The exhibition is made up of00:02:59.145
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- individual objects which -00:03:01.074
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- with consistent descriptiveness -00:03:02.965
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- comment on themselves00:03:06.161
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- either by their look or00:03:07.699
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- the form of their presentation00:03:10.129
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- or their title. This piece, for example,00:03:13.280
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- is called 1/2 Cubic of Wood00:03:17.088
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- and it is simply a block of wood00:03:19.224
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- out of a single piece, a single stuff.00:03:23.245
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- It refers to how under 1/2 cubic of wood00:03:28.678
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- we understand a certain volume of00:03:34.108
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- material and this is a consistent00:03:36.492
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- visualization of the word and00:03:43.565
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- how it could be understood00:03:47.579
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- by a precise interpretation.00:03:49.464
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- The piece can stand on its own,00:04:05.168
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- as an object or a sculpture which can00:04:08.231
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- be moved anywhere or be anywhere.00:04:11.085
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- This piece is an improvised sculpture00:04:24.683
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- that was made quite simply:00:04:28.102
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- the chair was dressed.00:04:33.132
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- It's title is "Sitting Chair".00:04:36.092
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- I see it as a simple commentary on00:04:39.873
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- the function of the object. Interesting00:04:45.097
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- for me is its sculptural value - that00:04:51.108
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- the piece recalls a figure and - it also00:04:54.143
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- comments on itself through its function.00:04:57.546
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- This piece here is named "Picture in a Book,"00:05:23.904
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- it is a found object from a flea market,00:05:27.538
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- so it is used here as a ready-made and00:05:32.171
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- I'm interested in it or fascinated by it00:05:35.030
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- because usually in a book there are00:05:39.431
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- pictures, illustrations - a common thing00:05:42.493
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- - or reproductions - but with this object00:05:45.808
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- the author used the book just as a canvas.00:05:49.263
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- He opened the book and left it so00:05:52.588
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- and painted a picture into the book00:05:54.568
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- without any connection00:05:57.099
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- to the book - he used it00:06:02.245
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- only as a background.00:06:02.789
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- This piece is called00:06:16.453
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- "Seam Side and Seam-Free Side."00:06:18.403
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- It is a documentation, photographs of00:06:19.769
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- a seam side and a seam-free side of a towel.00:06:25.990
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- In terms of form, it is interesting that00:06:30.133
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- that colors are inverted on each side00:06:35.806
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- and the towel is photographed00:06:40.671
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- on a white background and then on black.00:06:44.161
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- The background is also inverted which00:06:48.144
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- corresponds to the change of colors00:06:54.724
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- on the seem-free side and the seam side00:06:59.977
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- of the towel.00:07:01.021
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- It's important that it's enlarged to 1:100:07:02.504
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- used also as a ready-made.00:07:05.414
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- Is the towel your own?00:07:10.502
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- Yes, that's my towel.00:07:12.153
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- This piece here... I work with a mirror,00:07:24.157
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- I am interested in a mirror because00:07:29.700
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- it is a reflection of reality00:07:34.188
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- that is interesting00:07:36.231
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- because it is reversed.00:07:38.357
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- In the mirror, we see reality not00:07:40.046
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- as it is but reversed.00:07:42.939
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- I was looking for a way how to make00:07:46.968
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- a mirror which would reflect reality00:07:51.470
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- how we see it. Eventually,00:07:53.739
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- it was easier than it would seem.00:07:59.172
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- This thing here is the result.00:08:01.658
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- When we fix two mirrors00:08:06.208
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- into the right angle,00:08:09.155
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- each reflects itself,00:08:10.759
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- one reflects the other00:08:13.060
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- so that it reverses the image.00:08:14.720
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- The spectator in this mirror can00:08:17.444
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- see his image as it is seen by others.00:08:22.446
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- In the context of the other objects,00:08:27.719
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- it is again a commentary on the essence00:08:31.925
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- or the basic function of the object -00:08:34.600
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- the mirror.00:08:38.197
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- "BEAUTY=RELATIONSHIPS"00:08:42.121
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- It's about a definition of the space00:08:45.500
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- based on human criteria,00:08:50.693
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- a very concise one.00:08:56.524
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- A situation is created which00:08:59.826
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- also consists of a painting dimension -00:09:03.065
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- because, evidently, it is a still life -00:09:06.916
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- it's just not two-dimensional,00:09:09.449
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- it is an object. To what extent00:09:12.459
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- do you think these things are accessible00:09:17.171
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- to an audience not familiar with00:09:19.582
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- the whole history of modern art?00:09:21.874
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- But Honza works quite intuitively,00:09:23.624
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- he is more inspired by psychological00:09:28.266
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- phenomena and disciplines that are not00:09:31.258
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- related to art. And that's why00:09:34.203
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- I think it could be accessible even00:09:36.741
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- to people who might not know much00:09:39.146
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- about the history of art.00:09:42.511
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- This is going to be a satire, you know,00:09:47.847
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- a comedy. No, it's good!00:09:49.503
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- I don't want to generalize but00:09:55.742
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- the originally miminimalist forms00:10:00.018
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- focused on human criteria00:10:01.906
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- so that they would be accessible00:10:05.485
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- and one didn't have to00:10:07.047
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- think about them -00:10:08.195
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- getting inside immediately without00:10:09.013
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- the clues, historical filtres, visual experience.00:10:14.305
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- This is of course a concept that00:10:22.841
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- was exhausted.00:10:28.965
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- And now we remember it.00:10:30.855
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- But with the object from the wood there's00:10:33.195
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- a strategy of immediate effect00:10:39.570
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- on the spectator. He doesn't have to00:10:45.940
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- think about it.00:10:47.465