The exhibition space for contemporary art Prádelna Bohnice presents a joint project by Matěj Al-Ali, Petr Dub and Tomáš Moravec entitled Handle with care and criticism, which is linked to their previous joint project Stezka odvahy (Path of Courage) dealing with issues related to urban sprawl and the growing number of Czech satellite towns. The object of the exhibition is to capture the conflict between different functions of architecture and symbolism in contemporary architecture.
The exhibition examines the perception of public space as a place determined by different socio-economic interests – the aim to increase the effectiveness of the real estate market, the presentation of social prestige through architectural products and at the same time also a field influenced by common working requirements and conditions of civil engineering. In a series of video-installations and objects the artists instinctively uncover layers between motives of contemporary urban development and virtual models of future buildings. In a sensitive yet critical way they draw attention to conflicts connected with our ideas of an ideal life in architecture with a definitely new and perfect face. However, the every-day reality in their presentment looks mainly as a set of constant building makeshifts.
In their last project Al-Ali, Dub and Moravec show that the power of capital often creates artificial, crippled products, which originate on the basis of social demand in order to satisfy different psychological needs. Similarly as in their previous joint projects the artists do not disavow from feeling responsible for this state of affairs, on the contrary they nail their colours to the mast. The question for them remains the same – how do we cope with this state in which architectural monuments have become empty instruments, while this model of questioning can naturally easily turn into checking the conditions of contemporary art functioning.
