"if one considers practice- that is, critical practice, counterpractice- as the transformation of social, subjective, or economic relations, then the best, and perhaps only, point of engagement is with those relations in their enactment. the point is not to interpret those relations, as they exist elsewhere; the point is to change them." /Andrea Fraser in. Museum Highlights/
i have always viewed art as an exclamation mark -- a prism that withdraws us from norm-al perception of what otherwise goes unnoticed, as a moment of detachment or step-out, supposedly raising awareness of phenomena we take as granted -- in aesthetic, aesthetical and political sense. i believe that the artistic process of shifting what can be said, seen, or heard is the same as changing what is politically possible; politics and aesthetics are inextricably and materially linked.thus, art as inherently emancipatory practice merges /and possibly resolves/ the op-/positions of political theory and praxis -- it stands above the duality between intellectual elitism drawing the attention /mostly of those-already-intelectually-emancipated/ towards the aestheticization of problem of /social/ equality and direct political activism so-often-lapsing into pursy oppositional and vision-lacking gestures eventually empowering the system they had been initially fighting against. this "dysfunctionality" of oppositional stance implying that "there is no out of the system" directs me/us towards a specific position of what i call a "grey zone", finding itself on the demarcation line of culture -- in terms of /artworld/ legitimacy and even legality.
performance as an interdisciplinary medium rooted in the interaction between theory and practice appears to be the most suitable strategy of potential contestation of those norms and hierarchies -- it is a dynamic field of encounters rather than a discipline grounded in one particular methodology or tradition.
therefore, instead of comforting viewer/participant in their aesthetic/ moral/ political viewpoints and judgments i prefer to confront them with a specific situation. /confrontation is inevitably mutual./ stemming from the topics of failure and im-/perfection, i use strategies as irony and awkwardness as means of potential disruption of social hierarchies and shifting of power relations. my intention is to create a circle of instigator- situation- participant based on the situationist practice of detournement -- me in the position of social hacker rather than that of artist-redeemer. awkwardness is often symptomatic of an /intentional/ ambiguity around whether i am politically resisting or socially failing and whether the participants are willing to cope with the responsibilities imposed upon them. /while counting on renunciation as possible and fully-fledged reaction./ politicum of the body, knowledge, abilities and aesthetics stand as basis for my thinking about perfection and eventualities emerging from awkwardness or failure.
kata Mach in her art - simply put - explores political dimensions of intimate experience. she has been investigating into complex intertwined systems of oppression (capitalism, patriarchy, physical and mental normativity etc.) and their influence on both individual and society. in recent years, she has more prominently turned towards performative positions and work with physical body, which becomes a representant, a symbol and an object of the complex representation of perpetual failure in these systems. continual exploration and testing of realities of her body in contexts of political, social, economical and gender relations, always retain certain ambivalence. not only mach describes, analyses, criticises and thematises these contexts, but often painfully reveals an extent to which she is produced and constituted by them.
/zuzana jakalova/