X, Y

At present, “something” that has historically connected art and design for a long time is being blurred by uncertainty. The exhibition aims at testing the questions what the concept of art and craft may all mean in the 21st century.

Our joint activity ranges between journalism, contemporary art and design. In its character, the exhibition project is closer to the editorial activity rather than a curator’s approach. For both of us, working with various texts, understanding them, mastering them, and their acquisition is a kind of craft in which we engage. However, we will not inform the viewer, we wish to, through the skill of working with the text, attempt to mediate the awareness of what is currently happening to the art and craft.

At first, we ask others what the concept of art and craft personally means to them or possibly whether they contemplate on their activity in this way at all. We have addressed nearly two dozens of designers, artists, theoreticians, as well as personalities from other spheres, both young and established. We ask about the way in which these two words (art and craft) are related. Whether they are contradictory or complementary, to what extent art is a prerequisite of craft and vice versa. Or whether we may assess craft on the basis of aesthetic and art on the basis of economic criteria. The collected material and information is then processed. We work on this “collective awareness”, search for intersecting opinions and interpretations, search for patterns in information, recognise overlaps, shorten, and add foot notes. We create the “index” of the present and future of the art and craft, playing with possibilities and not avoiding seeming simplicity.

Keywords: Craftsmanship, mastery, talent, work, archaism, quality, degradation of quality, amateur, mark, professional, vernacular, spectacular, exhausting work, future, tradition, history, competitiveness, application, triviality, value of work, etc.

Authors of instalation: Magdalena Rutová a Štěpán Marko

Curators: Barbora Ševčíková, Filip Dědic
Authors of instalation: Magdalena Rutová a Štěpán Marko