To mark the anniversary of the 100th exhibition held in Gallery Rudolfinum since 1994, Krištof Kintera exhibition was sponsored by the Avast Foundation. Kintera is one of the most well-known and leading artist of Czech Republic, he was the concept writer of 4+4 dny v pohybu ( 4 + 4 days in motion ) annual art festival, the co-created the Entropa sculpture with David Černý which marked the presidency of the Council of the European Union and was nominated for the Jindřich Chalupecký Award three times.
Disappearing
In the first room of the exhibition was the remains of a flickering chandelier beside a massive boulder which reminded me of an ancient ruins of a ballroom from the 18th century right after a disaster. It gave a fantasy-like impression of the past, as if indicating what was once glorious now lay forgotten.
Postnnaturalia
Like its name, this piece resembles a "post-natural" environment, a city-scape made of electric waste, buildings and plants had cables as their stems and roots just like a scene from a post-apocalyptic movie, the dramatic dimming of the room adds more to the effect. The dystopian setting of the environment reminds us how humans rely so much on technology, which now covered all our habitats.
Demon of Growth
At first sight, it looked like a huge installation of Christmas ornaments. Upon closer inspection, those colourful spheres appeared to be waste materials. At the base of the structure is a deflated globe, crushed by the weight of the huge structure, reflecting how the earth is unable to sustain our rapid development, and population growth which drastically changed the environment.
Gallery I
The walls were covered in rows upon rows of Kintera's paintings, that looked like they were made of chemical waste products, with quotes such as " Flag of Better Future " under a rag, " I have some ideas how to make world much better, but I won't tell you" that are somehow thought provoking in terms of the underlying messages.
Nervous Trees
There was a feeling of déjà vu, even though I am sure I have never been here before, nor have I seen these installation. It was a strange feeling when the room dimmed, illuminating the figures making them look somewhat omnious, towering above us. " The Past Thinking about the Future when watching you" certainly suits the structure on the left, I can feel it's gaze on me even in the picture.
Gallery II
This room is a continuation of the first Gallery, with equally fascinating artworks that make us think about the current world we live in. " My future is Empty...", " I feel tired, broken and overworked ..." ......
Public Jukebox
Like previous rooms, the lights in this room turned down dramatically for some time, making the jukebox stand out, with the rag flags waving in the wind it somehow looked like a throne room, at the same time the jukebox playing old music and sounds brought me to a time not too far back, the 1900s when jukebox was a trend. Other visitors were entranced by looming presence as they ascend the steps to the throne to face the "ruler".
We All Want to be Cleaned
This installation was mesmerizing, washing machines are something everyone owns, a daily necessity however when put together looked foreign, like something from a science fiction movie. It can be seen a pretty straightforward piece, "we all want to be cleaned", putting
a bunch of cleaning machines together, however it also made me realize that this monstrosity of our waste products, towering over us made me feel small, and insignificant, yet this is all our doings.
Reflection
What themes he is addressing?
Krištof Kintera was trying to confront the issue of how the rapid unsustainable development and modernization of the world majorly impacted the planet's environment. The degradation and depletion of the natural environment jeopardized the human's ability to meet their own needs which leads to human's increasing dependence on technology has lead to increasing waste materials and pollution that changed the environment drastically to the point that they became our natural environment ( Postnaturalia ).
What working methods is he using?
Symbolism seems to be the approach oh Kintera to his art, both figuratively and literally. Readymade household appliances, washing machines were used for We all want to be Cleaned, literally pointing out the fact that we should perhaps "clean" our environment, at the same could be figurative as in human's increasing reliance on technology that eventually, there are eventually mountains and mountains of them, becoming part of our environment. On the other hand, Disappearing and The Past Thinking about the Future When looking at You and Nervous Tree could perhaps be interpreted more figuratively, making viewers ponder about the meanings behind these masterpieces.
What are the elements of his aesthetic proposal (materials and procedures on materials, usage of space, etc.)?
Kintera's art installations were mostly made of recycled waste materials, making a literal representation of the themes that he was addressing. Kintera would utilize waste materials, shaping and modeling them to resemble other objects, such as flowers made of plastics, landscape made of circuit boards, and building the enormous sculpture of the " demon " by combining hundreds of spheres together. It is clear that most of Kintera's work require patience and time. Furthermore, most of his installations were huge and have traveled to various places to be exhibited in the past, strengthening the symbolic meaning behind the works. The Jukebox, for example was exhibited in a vast open space outdoors, whereas this time it was in a smaller room, as if sending out different messages and leaving different messages and afterthoughts to the viewers.
How does the context (this precise venue) affect the piece?
The installations in Krištof Kintera exhibition were indeed arranged in a particular way to maximize the experience of the audience. The smaller gallery halls were meant to show the more "intimate" side of the artist, artworks that shows more emotional expressions, as the rooms are smaller it makes the viewer feel somewhat closer to the artist or with each other as they ponder about the message from the artist. Contrarily, bigger rooms host bigger installations. For example the first installation, Disappearing, the chandelier and boulder were set as if they belonged in that space and time, the whole room had the atmosphere of another time, the ceilings were painted in old renaissance mural, sending the audience back in time. Whereas the room of the Public Jukebox, brought upon a different atmosphere, the ceilings were glass panels allowing some natural light into the room, lighting up the "throne" when the room dimmed, giving off a different feel at different time of the day but still impel some sort of reverence towards the center piece. Similarly, the main installation of the exhibition, the Nervous Trees and the piece We all want to be Cleaned was placed in a similar room. Additionally, The installation of Demon of Growth and We all want to be Cleaned were placed in more narrow rooms, adding to the size of the art installations.
Source:
Exhibition Website: http://www.galerierudolfinum.cz/en/exhibitions/past-exhibitions/kristof-kintera-nervous-trees/
Official Website: http://kristofkintera.com/home.htm