eight eight eight
XPrototyp Gallery
Artists
Oskar Helcel
Jan Kučera
Martin Lee
Martin Netočný
and River Young
Curators
Opening
Duration
The separation of time into three segments is a mental model that has been accepted by the majority of society for a long time and, as a rule, without any reservations. Eight hours of sleep – one cannot but agree, as it is better than precarious insomnia. Eight hours of work: Why? Or why not? And eight hours of leisure time, as opposed to serfdom relieved by periods of leisure-time activities, more or less improves the physical and psychological resilience of an individual to perform additional work, does it not? Hey, are you awake yet?
The separation of time into three segments is a mental model that has been accepted by the majority of society for a long time and, as a rule, without any reservations. Eight hours of sleep – one cannot but agree, as it is better than precarious insomnia. Eight hours of work: Why? Or why not? And eight hours of leisure time, as opposed to serfdom relieved by periods of leisure-time activities, more or less improves the physical and psychological resilience of an individual to perform additional work, does it not? Hey, are you awake yet?
Do you want to see all of your activities played out on a smartphone display in the form of one long film? It is quite certain that you have no such desire. Then there is the timelessness of group existence in private space, which is filled with activities whose purpose is not more important than the process. A cigarette pause, somewhat pushed out into public space – you may have a smoke without any of the comfort provided by a building – no one smokes at home anymore, and that is your break. You do not want to smell. You want to draw in a workbook and write down whatever comes to mind. You do that, then Oskar takes it away from you and does something else with it, almost as if he wanted to categorise it. In the meantime, you want to switch on the radio at work – that is what people do to take their mind off things, even though it is the drastic dramaturgy of mainstream stations that soothes the soul – but wait, it does not really matter when absolute nostalgia resonates in every store. Do I count the hours, and compare myself with others, with how they work? Do I count the material I am using, calculating its value and the value of my work with it? And for whom?
The notion that we have learned one profession and that we will have only one type of work throughout our professional life is far removed from reality and the actual situation. Then there is still the question of what to devote ourselves to in the educational process. And what is education? How is it carried out and where?
Student Exhibition, Studio of Documentary Photography, FAMU.
