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Jackpot Jacks at Ankali

Last month we have hosted an exhibition of students from the photography department at FAMU in Prague. The Studio of Photography and New Media led by Hynek Alt had been installing intensively for 3 days to show their work in the club – a quite untraditional space for a final show of the winter semester. After a long afternoon spent presenting their works to the jury, they have opened up this pop-up exhibition to the public for one night only. Here is a documentation of their installations with an accompanying text by the studio assistant and a curator, Jen Kratochvíl.

Shortly after their return from distant realms of outer space, the students of the Studio of Photography and New Media at FAMU started to contemplate their next step. After a careful consideration of all available options, a bright idea to step into a space of Ankali, “a gently crafted club space for open-minded heads”, was born. In the midst of neglected post-industrial/ storage area in Prague, Vršovice, those with higher sensitivity have the prerogative to find this hidden transitional space. It felt as if a higher power decided to draw them back from Pluto, right into Ankali. Here they are with a new presentation of freshly conceived works, site-specifically interacting with the given environment.

Not much has changed since Pluto, they are still a various group of people with individual interests and motivations. What bounds them is an ability to forge a consistent entity from single works, which are despite their multifarious origins targeting an only bull’s eye, a commonly shared and lived conditions and experiences of our times.

Their interstellar experience from normalization period housing estate in Bratislava taught them how to pierce through a dense fabric of concrete and bring in some bright sunlight, both symbolically and literally. Which is precisely what enclosed former factory hosting Ankali called for. Two figures are silently manifesting in space their private instant messaging conversation opening up their souls and most profound doubts and desires. Series of disembodied limbs and torsos are encouraging you to exercise your sluggish selves. Your nails are growing rapidly. A car is breathing. Lost shoes are ready for your pickup. An endless stream of images is blinding you. Omnipresent signs are defining the rules of conduct, proposing a renewed social contract for the age of digital critters. The subtlest sounds are echoing with a strength of a roaring waterfall. And if you’ll be patient, maybe you can also embark on an eternal flight.

Jackpot Jacks are “the catchiest.” Don’t you think so?

Richard Janeček
Random Speculation
video, 10 min

Erika Štěpánková
Release
6 videos in loop

Jakub Ra
Parallel Mind
projection, performance

www.jakubra.com

Jíří Procházka
100 Happy Days
100 plastic cups filled with orange juice

Petr Pustina
Untitled
12 photograms, 40x40cm

Matthew Colodny
Size 44
mixed media installation

Stanislav Adam
Keep Cool And Carry On
sound installation

Dávid Lipkovič
Live Love Laugh
nailart

Jonáš Verešpej
Durable Images
intervention, 9 metal signs, 28x12cm

verespejjonas.tumblr.com

Max Vajt
Economy Class Syndrome
interactive game

Evgenii Smirnov
Select All Images With Beautiful Mountains And Click “Verify”
video

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