The installation of Matyáš Chochola is deliberately separated from the rest of the exhibition; for, according to the artist, it is to lead the viewers through the bowels of the Trade Fair Palace to an environment inducing the experience of an “altered state of consciousness.“ Reminding of a desolate night club or even its ruins, the space brings us closer to the “dark side” of human nature with its sexuality, cult of the body and desire for danger and speed while associating the depths of the surrounding universe. The individual and the universal are inseparably linked in Chochola’s work. Although he often makes performances right in front of an audience, for the final of JCHA, he has realized several live events that are intentionally shrouded at the exhibition by a series of experiments with the possibilities and forms of documentation, ranging from video recordings and video installations to material remnants of performances that took place at the same space. That accentuates the tension between a live event and its recording and at the same time intensifies the impression of an environment capturing events that have already occurred while serving as a scene for other potential events whose development already depends on the imagination and courage of the viewers. In the labyrinth that is not far away from a decadent temple nor a trash dump, our own shadows can emerge from anywhere.
