Oldřich Bystřický
Poetics Aesthetics Composition series
HIDDEN Bořivojova
9. - 30. 11. 2021
For the exhibition at Hidden Gallery I have selected photographs from two long-term series, photo-journal entries and photo-performances.
The still life series has been created since 2008. The snapshots are from the interiors I inhabit, they are spontaneous records of changing compositions from objects that find themselves in my collections for longer or shorter periods of time. These are objects that fascinate me, from iconic modernist design to natural objects, personal items or family heirlooms, referencing stories and people I didn't know myself.
A poetic moment of the everyday, captured in a photograph.
Personal time, natural time, geological time, creative time and its non-preservation.
The second cycle, from which most of the photographs were selected, is the series of photo-performances In love with red dust of living, which were created from April 2017 to the present. They respond to the architecture, light and spaces of the Veletržní palác, an iconic building of Czech functionalism, where I am very often present for my work. The photographs are created very spontaneously in response to the current effect of light, which can completely transform this minimalist-looking building with interiors in shades of white. The sharp contrasts, the projection of patterns and the transparencies always create a different space. Coloured according to the time of day or season.
The photo-performances have a few constant principles - the actions are not repeated or rehearsed, they are improvised, photographed for 10 seconds by the self-timer of a mobile phone camera that I place on the floor, windowsill or other suitable place. The format of the photo is square, usually taking 3-5 shots. I see the result after the photo is taken, the selected image remains with little or no editing.
The only viewer present is the camera lens.
what does poetics mean to you?
It stands for essence, it is liveliness and emotion, it is otherness, it is the beauty of everyday life. It transcends mere utility and the supposed purposefulness of life and the world, it is the counterpoint to soulless economism and reason, devoid of feeling. In fact, it is the best and the true essence that connects the emotional and the rational, the inexplicable and the obvious.
what does aesthetics mean to you?
For me, there are different aesthetics that can coexist; it is not just about style in an art historical or design sense. My relationship to aesthetics is intuitive, I am not educated in it in a philosophical way. I am close to the coexistence of aesthetics of different periods and opinions, I am close to a modest eclecticism. A crack in a wall, a stone, a piece of resin, an unwritten paper, a fading flower can shine, as can the most beautiful antique, a masterpiece of man or nature: a flower, a beautiful eye, a crystal, a golden cut.
what does composition mean to you?
Composition is everywhere, it permeates everything, even if we want to deny it, it is the expression of the visible and non-obvious relations of things in surface and space. It is contained at the microscopic level and in the relations of cosmic bodies. Composition is inherent in life, it can be asymmetrical or axisymmetrical, it can be both, it can have a hidden golden section. For me, it is a path to harmony. We should strive for composition and rub it.