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Positive Occupation (with Viktor Valášek)

statement

Pozitivní Okupace (Positive Ocupation) is an exhibition dealing with hidden control and power relationships emerging in the social discourse when views of different cultures collide. The fundamental dichotomy lies in the difference between ‘us’ and ‘them’ and the notion how these terms are used within the given narrative. The illusion of a multicultural harmonic society is again and again broken within the very same framework of public discourse which support the illusion if one dares to apply an analytical approach. Alterity, a term coined by Emmanuel Levinas (Altérité et transcendence, 1995), captures the essence of this idea. The experience of the encounter with the other is seen is a privileged phenomenon in which the other person’s proximity and distance are both strongly felt. Being aware of alterity means being aware of the construction of “cultural others”. And only with awareness, a further step to overcoming national ideology and cultural demagogy can be made.

Josef Bares and Viktor Valasek draw from different backgrounds, yet their works come together at a point where different cultures cross each other. For both, the starting point was a movement across cultural zones, which triggered specific interests, yet lead back to the common denominator represented by the keyword “alterity”.

The loose topic for this exhibition are impressions from the Chinese-speaking area of Asia. Viktor Valasek recently returned from China and the impressions served as a conceptual input for the location specific wall-painting which will be part of the show. Josef Bares has a close relationship with Chinese culture for a longer time. For this show he prepared mixed media work based on photographs taken during the era of Japanese occupation of Taiwan.

The discussion about the work on display also became reflected in the name of the exhibition. Military occupation is always perceived as a strong act of aggression and the ideology surrounding it is a typical example of the ‘us’ and ‘them’ monologue, where the position of the other side (‘they’) is interpreted through the dominant ideology (‘us’) without allowing a voicing of any aberrant opinion. Thus, from a position of the ruling power, a military occupation is presented as a positive act.

By choosing the exhibition title, we are referring to the fact, that the ‘war goes on’ even in times of peace, but it shifts into the cultural sphere and it becomes much more subtle. As a metaphor, positive military occupation means reclaiming the mental space for all and counteracting the dominant social paradigm.

Josef Bares’ work keeps distance, yet goes under the skin at the same time. The experience of living is Asia brought a different perspective, which is included in his work. But instead of looking for exotic folklore, he focuses on common denominators. He deals with systems of signs which are universal, yet show local variants. The central interest lies on the system of signs present in architecture. Architecture is universal in it’s function, yet interpretations vary widely across locations. Josef Bares extracts a meta-language of architectural elements, structures and spaces based on his visual experience and transforms them into a universal vocabulary. For Josef Bares, being aware of alterity means focusing on the essence, filtering out any culturally-specific points of view.

Viktor Valasek’s work is more personal. He is not afraid to comment and depict his own surrounding, including cultural stereotypes and memories from his own nation’s collective consciousness. It is a view which is only possible after a person leaves his own culture and looks back from the ‘other’ location. At once, one feels trapped within his/her own stereotype. This is who I am. This is who I am expected to be. We are expected to conform to the view imposed by ‘them’ on ‘us’. Viktor Valasek is balancing on the edge between doing a good show – as ‘expected’ – and self-reflection. The ‘folklore’ – otherness – of Central European post communist contemporary art is the product which is delivered to the spectator, yet it comes with a self-critical edge. Is it myself, or is it the image of myself, as defined by others? For Viktor Valasek, alterity means stepping out of his own culture and looking back at it through the eye of the other.

(by c8400)