At the exhibition „Particip no. 174“ Tomáš Vaněk defined in a simple way the straight-through quality of exhibition space. With the help of stencils and spray he placed different types of arrows in various constellations on the walls. He added a commentary on one of the walls, explaining how different arrows comment the surrounding space. The constellations of arrows enable us to “read” their meanings and to compose our own poetical narratives. „There’s a constant draft here” is a simple statement based on the experience of walking through the arcade, “Mutual satisfaction” may refer to imaginary relationships which can take place in the arcade, for example in the adjacent shops. The visual form of the exhibition has humorously merged with the surrounding advertisements on which we can also see arrows that attract people’s attention to shops and their bargains and sales. However, these arrows are different from Vaněk’s arrows which point to different directions and do not admonish to do anything. His poetic gesture refers to the place itself, to another look at it. It is also an exquisite commentary on the omnipresent pragmatic relationships which are expected to lead to a clear (countable) result.
