Lukáš Slavický↓

About the work

Territory, Burning, and Distances

The installation by Lukáš Slavický consists of an authorial film accompanied by a storyboard and a painting series. The short film analyzes a creative process, and therefore also the artist himself. It is conceived as a work made “while driving”, with journey being its important motif. It refers to the road movie and experimental film genres, and the style of depleted narration. The artist lays strong emphasis on the composition of the takes and their atmosphere. He works with signs and symbols, typography, natural elements, and cultural references. Each of the five parts forming the film’s structure illustrates a particular stage of its origination. This is done via repeating and gradual changing the motifs. In addition, the film is a film about a film, since it reveals the circumstances of its origination.

Slavický’s film employs the same tools and methods as his paintings. The latter, in turn, adopt film terminology, such as whole, close-up, and depth of field. All the media used by the artist betray his interest in concepts such as layering, fragmentation, framing, absurdity, background phenomenon, mise-en-scène… The film was made without any previous experience with the given medium (except the one of a viewer). It thus works like a DIY project and explores whether this way can result in a work of art that “works”. The answer is left to the viewer.