Patrik Proško

Representation

Bernard Bolzano Gallery, Těchobuz, Czech Republic, 2013

Exhibition of the group ‘Representation’

Representation

Representation (from Latin re-praesentatio ‘bring before’, ‘exhibit’) means a repeated presentation / a re-presentation, but also an exhibition, a “bringing before” and also a “serving as a symbol of”. The human, apart from other animal species, is capable of representation (of serving as a symbol of themselves or a group), but also of re-presentation, of evoking something from the past through memory and projecting it into their records, notes, or intensive work in the present. The ‘Representation’ project is not a coherent aesthetic or ideological programme, nor does it represent an art group with a unified artistic vision. It is, however, a collective, organizing presentations of individual attitudes of people who are connected by sharing and presenting their work on a regular basis. The catalogue which regularly presents the work and reflective essays from the previous month is not only a material memory of the project, but also an institution binding its members to scheduled work and finalization of essays, projects, and plans collectively discussed on editorial meetings. The regular institutionalized presentation thus confronts free artistic creation with processes common rather in commercial companies, such as periodic presentations of works-in-progress, finishing projects on time, meeting deadlines, and so on. The people participating on this project represent a wide spectrum of artistic views and methods of expression, and their connection is not, and perhaps even cannot be, ideological. The meaning of the project is, however, not a search for a common language or an artistic policy. Its meaning is rather the establishment of a light, low-cost platform for regular artistic work with an open artistic programme. After more than a year in function and more than 12 catalogues published, many interesting findings can be listed. The most important one probably being that it still works.

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