September 2012 – June 2013
Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague / Studio of Sculpture
Spatial Artistic Activity in Urban Practice
Re-imagination as a way to embrace public space
The thesis consists of two parts. In the first "theoretical" part I tried to map out the development of locally specific art and I tried to demonstrate how did the artists, over several decades, dealt with intervention trends in space and started to integrate "ordinary" people into the very process of creating an art work. Examining the citizens' responses to the resulting project is therefore interrelated. Spatial Practice and Critical Spatial Practice, two terms I mention, are important to me. It is possible to understand them as an "extended field" of urban planning, architecture and art. Spatial practice examines the means and transformations of urban areas. It covers planning, civic engagement, artistic practices, and activism. It is a "re-imagination" of a town and its possibilities. I deal with the role of an artist involved in the interventions in the public space and I propose methods, by means of which an artist could examine these relationships. Each chapter includes instructive examples of artistic projects related to individual issues. The work of theoretician Miwon Kwon One Place after another: Comments on the specific nature of the place, constituted an important guide for me. It was published in the sculpture exhibition catalogue State of affairs (Stav věcí) in Brno. I also used young theorist Jana Zálešák's work The Art of Cooperation (Umění spolupráce) as a guide.
In the second "practical" part I apply the principles of Spatial practice based on my examination and newly acquired experience to my own project - the proposal for a remodeling of the town square in Březová nad Svitavou. I realize the variety of political and historical aspects concerning the outputs of my thesis, which I address in my work. For the case study Moravian square in Březová nad Svitavou I carried out testing of the place on the basis of my personal study. A new Architectonic study of the square is now developing in cooperation with a landscape architect and a designer. I consulted the project with the mayor and municipal representatives from its very beginning, and I organized discussions, workshops and surveys among the citizens. I present the results of my effort in the end of my thesis, that is in an exhibition of the Studio of Sculpture at AAAD, where I presented all my steps and the outcomes of the last months of my intensive work effort.
