Leisure under Control
XINI Project
Artists
Martina Smutná
Curators
Opening
Duration
Venue
Jeronýmova 88/9, Prague 3
by appointment or during events
The idleness of the aristocracy at the start of the modern era and that of today’s middle class have much in common. The works of Martina Smutná draw on this similarity. Marie Lukáčová explores the relationship between the public and the private as well as associated social “orders” using the medium of video in her film Ziva Mrtva. Circling around the separability of leisure and working time has brought this duo of artists together for the concept of the environment and activities within the framework of an exhibition project.
Time is. The way in which we separate it and name it depends on when, where and who we are. The separation of time into leisure and working hours is closely associated with the way society has moved towards different methods of self-organisation. This turning point came at some time around the notional beginning of the modern era.
Martina Smutná is interested in the relationship between the upper classes of the eighteenth century and today’s middle-class bourgeoisie. That which could from today’s perspective be called the idleness of the aristocracy (as depicted by, for example, Francisco Goya and Antoine Watteau), was in reality carefully planned time spent in the company of other socially highly-placed individuals – time that was organised, ensured, and supervised by the lower born serving class. As a result, the relationship between those who have power and those who seemingly have none is not entirely unambiguous. Smutná also considers even this type of ostensibly idyllic surroundings in terms of supervision and unwritten rules. These are spheres within which the public and the private intertwine, as well as where the seen intermingles with the invisible. The video entitled Ziva Mrtva also grew out of one of these places. Here, Marie Lukáčová makes concurrent use of documentary fiction and visual narrative formats to build a dual character who mirrors the thinking about the opinions about life roles conferred by contemporary society. This exhibition and its accompanying programme seeks escape routes from the current pseudo-leisure time. It creates mental and physical space for existence outside of working hours and, at the same time, away from the social game.
