A Randomix Review
Exhibition at the Trafacka Arena, Prague
30th March 2007 - 2nd April 2006
Czech this out! Random Artists go east.
What started out as Kultura Jinak presents Mix Cooltura, an exhibition in the Prague National Gallery, ended up as Randomix at the Trafacka Arena, mainly starring and hosted by Random Artists and Pitchless (who were this elusive Kultura Jinak??...). The air of disappointment from both countries artists was not hard to miss, as the huge derelict warehouse/gallery housed a minimal amount of art and audience. But then again, the building was huge! The basement, however, was teeming with eclectic, electric artwork. There was a large projection wall showing a feedback distorted image of the basement, an interactive TV wall that displayed animated visuals fed through from a plinth that picked up movement and light, both from Oko3, a drape installation of urban projections that you could walk amongst and lastly, but by no means least, the Random Artists/Pitchless Interactive Nightmare Bedroom. The art, video and audio collected from a number of artists worked together well to create an intense atmosphere of the distorted dream world made real on the walls and monitors. I won't give it away as you'll just have to wait till May to check it out for yourselves!
The basement was also home to a lot of very high class art from other Czech and English artists. The National Gallery really did miss out on a treat of good art. Unfortunately the Trafacka Arena is a newly established art centre in a district on the edge of town so no ponsie art goers came anywhere near it. The Czech ravers that did turn up through out the 4 days of the event, either for the music on the opening night or for the film night hosted by the London Projection Gallery, enjoyed the art and effort that had been made by Random Artists and Oko3 in creating something new and interesting to look at. The highlight of the show was without a doubt the TAA in a dolls house. Standing over 6ft with 4 floors of artwork (miniature of course), a rave in the basement and more like an old Victorian workhouse than a dolls house housing over 30 artists, this outstanding installation is totally representative of the TAA experience, complete with squat slop café, info stall and K monster in the kitchen. Again you're gonna have to wait till the real sized TAA in May to truly experience the awe! But when you do, make sure you check out the toilet and crew room, the attention to detail is impressive.
All in all the trip was a good experience. Some good contacts came out of the show as the gallery owners are more than happy to work with Random Artists for any future shows. As are the Oko3 crew who made the amazing TV wall and helped wire up power to the whole thing. Very good people, really good art! We also learnt that when somewhere like the national gallery say “you can have it for free”, always check the small print where they mention the insurance, staffing fees and other such costs that end up in the region of 100,000Ck (approx £2,500)!
And for those of you hanging out for any news on this summers teknival events, the word on the streets of Prague is that CzechTek is off this year and all the sound systems are heading to places like Bulgaria and Croatia for this years party season.
Czech ya later.