<div class="example">The rotting cake in the display case refers to the street dirt of the urban environment</div>
The author, artist, and curator Barbora Ilič thematizes the aesthetics of urban patina and visual smog through the example of the city of Brno in the exhibition Dirt is a Social Construct. This year's first exhibition at gallery 45 000 l is one of three selected exhibition projects from the international Open call that took place last autumn under the auspices of the Faculty of Architecture of VUT in Brno. A liminal reception with the artist Jarmila Červená as part of Brno Art Week on April 28, 2024, from 2 PM to 5 PM will celebrate the second birthday of gallery 45 000 l.
The authorial site-specific installation presents collages created from obscured real-life posters of Brno's shop windows, which transport into a new imaginary situation in the passage between Šilingrovo náměstí and OC Velký Špalíček. The motifs elucidated here are elevated to abstract shapes, creating a backdrop and simultaneously forming the main view for passersby. Alongside them, two objects form the essential part of the installation, drawing attention due to the transparency in the posters. The video in the background narrating a personal story contextualizes and thematizes individual motifs from overlooked and vacated locations in Brno – so-called non-places, which, according to French anthropologist Marc Augé, we cannot identify with or feel sympathy for. The author focuses on these, developing a positive relationship with them and finding their specific aesthetics, which she further elaborates. The final idiom resonating in the video shifts our attention to the cherry on top – literally, the phrase is materialized in a cake installation by food stylist Jarmila Červená, specializing in cake creation and design. It will be in a display case gradually decomposing until the end of the exhibition on May 7, 2024.
“The exhibition focuses on the documentation and appropriation of 'street dirt' and visual smog in the phase of its physical decay. It explores the spontaneously emerging aesthetics of decaying materials and their second life set within a narrative about the concept of visual cleanliness,” the author adds.
Gallery 45 000 l: Volume for Engaged Architecture began its exhibition activities at the Brno Art Week art festival two years ago, and during this year's edition, it will celebrate a successful entry into the third year on Sunday, April 28, from 2 PM to 5 PM. The accompanying program of the exhibition Dirt is a Social Construct will be a Liminal reception, where visitors can decorate, take away, and eat their piece of visual smog. The event is created in collaboration with food stylist Jarmila Červená and will take place in the passage and adjacent public spaces of the gallery. Everyone is welcome regardless of age, and if you would like to secure a spot and your portion for decoration, please let us know via email at [email protected]. Participation and refreshments are free.
Barbora Ilič (*1993) is an artist, curator, and doctoral student at FaVU VUT, whose work deals with the power of romanticization and the issues of reparative tendencies in art as well as broader social contexts. Her works often feature references to B-grade cinema and musical pop culture in the form of low theory. She currently operates within the curatorial collective Cejla and the artistic collective UglyBrno.
45 000 l: Volume for Engaged Architecture is a volume emerging beyond the institution's walls into the public space of the passage in the center of Brno. The gallery aims to confront everyday reality and the problems of contemporary architecture with its interdisciplinary extensions. The exhibition program seeks current social themes, contextualizing them within the city and space, which also relates to the question of how to exhibit and communicate with passersby through the display case format.
Dirt is a Social Construct – Barbora Ilič
March 12 – May 7, 2024
The opening took place on March 12 at 6 PM
Graphic design: Pavel Holomek @pa.jinac
Curator/production: Eva Truncová
Thanks to: Faculty of Architecture VUT in Brno. The exhibition is created with financial support from the Czech Architecture Foundation, the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the statutory city of Brno, and under the auspices of the Faculty of Architecture VUT in Brno. 45 000 l: Volume for Engaged Architecture
49.1927300N 16.6063847E
Mon – Sun 00.00 – 00.00
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Graphic materials
Photo documentation of the opening
The authorial site-specific installation presents collages created from obscured real-life posters of Brno's shop windows, which transport into a new imaginary situation in the passage between Šilingrovo náměstí and OC Velký Špalíček. The motifs elucidated here are elevated to abstract shapes, creating a backdrop and simultaneously forming the main view for passersby. Alongside them, two objects form the essential part of the installation, drawing attention due to the transparency in the posters. The video in the background narrating a personal story contextualizes and thematizes individual motifs from overlooked and vacated locations in Brno – so-called non-places, which, according to French anthropologist Marc Augé, we cannot identify with or feel sympathy for. The author focuses on these, developing a positive relationship with them and finding their specific aesthetics, which she further elaborates. The final idiom resonating in the video shifts our attention to the cherry on top – literally, the phrase is materialized in a cake installation by food stylist Jarmila Červená, specializing in cake creation and design. It will be in a display case gradually decomposing until the end of the exhibition on May 7, 2024.
“The exhibition focuses on the documentation and appropriation of 'street dirt' and visual smog in the phase of its physical decay. It explores the spontaneously emerging aesthetics of decaying materials and their second life set within a narrative about the concept of visual cleanliness,” the author adds.
Gallery 45 000 l: Volume for Engaged Architecture began its exhibition activities at the Brno Art Week art festival two years ago, and during this year's edition, it will celebrate a successful entry into the third year on Sunday, April 28, from 2 PM to 5 PM. The accompanying program of the exhibition Dirt is a Social Construct will be a Liminal reception, where visitors can decorate, take away, and eat their piece of visual smog. The event is created in collaboration with food stylist Jarmila Červená and will take place in the passage and adjacent public spaces of the gallery. Everyone is welcome regardless of age, and if you would like to secure a spot and your portion for decoration, please let us know via email at [email protected]. Participation and refreshments are free.
Barbora Ilič (*1993) is an artist, curator, and doctoral student at FaVU VUT, whose work deals with the power of romanticization and the issues of reparative tendencies in art as well as broader social contexts. Her works often feature references to B-grade cinema and musical pop culture in the form of low theory. She currently operates within the curatorial collective Cejla and the artistic collective UglyBrno.
45 000 l: Volume for Engaged Architecture is a volume emerging beyond the institution's walls into the public space of the passage in the center of Brno. The gallery aims to confront everyday reality and the problems of contemporary architecture with its interdisciplinary extensions. The exhibition program seeks current social themes, contextualizing them within the city and space, which also relates to the question of how to exhibit and communicate with passersby through the display case format.
Dirt is a Social Construct – Barbora Ilič
March 12 – May 7, 2024
The opening took place on March 12 at 6 PM
Graphic design: Pavel Holomek @pa.jinac
Curator/production: Eva Truncová
Thanks to: Faculty of Architecture VUT in Brno. The exhibition is created with financial support from the Czech Architecture Foundation, the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the statutory city of Brno, and under the auspices of the Faculty of Architecture VUT in Brno. 45 000 l: Volume for Engaged Architecture
49.1927300N 16.6063847E
Mon – Sun 00.00 – 00.00
Graphic materials
Photo documentation of the opening
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