ART-PRESENTATION: Krištof Kintera-Postnaturalia
Krištof Kintera is one of the most distinguished Czech artists working with different types of media. In his work he comments on principles of current consumer society. His works and installations intervene into the stereotypical chain of production, shopping and consumption, ability to react on the problems of our times is found throughout majority of his work. As an active performer he directs a theater group called Jednotka.
By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Collezione Maramotti Archive
Krištof Kintera creates sculptures and installations by combining or altering ordinary objects in unusual ways. These works are often site-specific, modifying elements in the street or inside a building. However the majority of works are singular sculptures designed for the gallery, often employing robotics of electrical parts. The works are often filled with humor, designed to play off consumer culture and contemporary objects. By modifying common object from everyday life, the artist gives them new meaning and allows us to see a more removed perspective. “Postnaturalia” is a complex sculptural installation made by Krištof Kintera, with the collaboration of Richard Wiesner and Rastislav Juhás, for Collezione Maramotti. Our era is based on the transmission of energy and information, the artist compares nature to a huge nervous system, for this reason as well, his project is grafted in different spaces of the Collection as a living organism would do. Nature is recreated and regenerated in the space called “Laboratorio dell’artista”, images, photographs, notes and sketches on the walls, electric and electronic waste materials, stills, lamps, chemical substances, all become generative elements of a new natural beauty for the artist. A series of videos are also conveying Kinteras’ real sounds and work processes taking place in his studio. By taking as a model the scientist’s old approaches and his prototypes, new kinds of plants are grown, classified and sown in a wide para-vegetal nervous system finding its place in a second room in the Collection. The “Systemus Postnaturalis” presents an artificial carpet of plants growing through an intricate mesh of copper roots, three islands are joined together through pathways that visitors can experience directly. The three-meter-high sculpture, “Electrons Seeking Spirit” stands in the main entry hall, made with wire cables composing its load-bearing skeleton ending with an animal head. Other small creatures surround it, creatures triggering a feeling of collective panic due to this. In the garden, under living plants, the works “Praying Woods” are extended towards the sky or bend down towards the ground. This proliferation of suggestions within the Collection is accompanied by other works scattered in other locations in the town of Reggio Emilia. “Public Jukebox” is a sound installation that will be activated for one month in Piazza della Vittoria. This is an itinerant sculpture which has travelled to several European locations, every time, the sound repertory is updated with the music of the hosting country, also Kintera’s sculptures have been placed in an old cabinet of the naturalistic section of the Musei Civici, an old cultural town.
Info: Collezione Maramotti, Via Fratelli Cervi 66, Reggio Emilia, Duration: 19/3-20/7/16 (Closed 25/4/17 & 1/5/17), Days & Hours: Thu & Fri 14:30-18:30, Sat-Sun 10:30-18:30, www.collezionemaramotti.org
