Selection for Pavel Janák - A1ARCHITECTS (1st place)

HOUSE OF ART IN THE CITY OF BRNO 2011

STRATEGY:
We offer the concept of the exhibition of Pavel Janák in ideal outlines, which serve as a starting point for assembling the overall exhibition in creative collaboration between curator - architect - graphic designer, and this for any version of the exhibition individually (alpha, beta, or possibly gamma, delta…). The proposed concept does not represent a definitive compact whole, but rather a formal strategy that allows for seamless adaptation of a potential touring version of the exhibition to various formats and changing financial possibilities. Last but not least, we have tried to create a visual basis for presentable material for fundraising, which is necessarily related to the success of the exhibition.

The idea concept is based on the contribution of an accompanying authorial layer that mediates the entire encounter with Pavel Janák for the exhibition visitors. From discovering that the event is taking place, through visiting the exhibition, lectures, catalog, and website, to their recollection several years later, which allows them to recall the authentic exhibition and, against its background, the mediated content.

SYSTEM:
The framework of the exhibition consists of an open system, whose aesthetics stem from a reinterpretation of Janák's texts and specific periods of his work. Solitary and individually combined elements, serving as all conceivable forms of panelling (base, wall, ceiling, corner of the room…) are arranged in a modular grid. The changing form is fundamentally trapped in an untranscendable Cartesian system, which can be very loosely understood as a reference to the prevailing current interpretation of the given historical period.

As a result, objects organize the space of all versions of the exhibition according to a script written by the curator, directed by the architect, edited, and produced by the graphic designer. This all takes place in an interactive and critical collaboration tailored to each specific space, exhibits, and finances separately. Thus, the visual impression of Janák's monographic exhibition remains the same, not despite, but because of the individuality of each solution.

FORM:
In concept, objects organizing the compositions of exhibits, plans, and texts primarily draw from Janák's thoughts on the role of the free spirit between construction and purpose, the relationship of emptiness and matter, and the significance of the diagonal in a regional context. Formally, the specific aesthetics of his architectural, ceramic, and furniture designs are projected into them. All of this is abstracted into a set of basic forms, adequate to the chronologically presented exhibits. The ambition of "panelling" is not to mediate the nuances of the formal side of Janák's work, but only to contribute in basic outlines and underline the overall impression of visiting the exhibition for the widest possible range of visitors. Inspiration in Janák's views is not meant to serve as a primitive description of them—it represents, for us, a correction necessarily linked to the author's installation.

The exhibition is guided by a timeline, meandering through the space between the fundamental layer of the exhibition. From it, one can deviate and delve into deeper connections according to interest.

INSTALLATION IN THE HOUSE OF ART IN THE CITY OF BRNO - ALPHA VERSION
The main focus of the installation of the maximum Alpha version is set in the upper floor, whose exhibition halls reflect the chapters proposed in the exhibition libretto. The introduction to the exhibition is located in Hall A. In this section, we propose to supplement the content of the libretto (biographical data of Pavel Janák) with projected photographs and potential film footage. The hall contains only a panel with data and a projection screen in the form of an exhibition table, onto which it is projected from above; in the dim light, the entire story of the exhibition begins. Hall B is dedicated to the section of the libretto "Expression through Knowledge". The presentation of exhibits and the overall composition of the space continues in a horizontal plane on the surfaces of tables; the characteristic form of panels is not yet applied here; it is a period of study and exploration. The main exhibition space C focuses on the period of Cubism, and from this point on, vertical elements of stylized panels begin to be applied in the installation. The main motif of this section is the diagonal of triangular panels that are mutually assembled into separate objects ideologically referring to reflections on the pyramid and prism. These are designed to pleasantly present both graphic exhibits and models or preserved furniture and porcelain. The section on Cubism, or "Spirit Moves Matter", smoothly transitions into room D, representing the National Style, where triangles transform into quarter-circle panels and a table. In Hall E, a composition of squares emerges, foreshadowing the section "Form for Its Function". The square - form "neutral panelling" continues freely into Procházka's hall (indicated by F in the drawings), which we also perceive as a suitable place to sit and comfortably absorb a larger part of the exhibition - ideally over coffee served directly in Janák's porcelain design (or in its replicas). A small café bar also adopts the morphology of square panels and tables, which present the remaining sub-sections from the years 1925 - 1940. A separate part of the exhibition consists of the section of the libretto "Reconstruction" in the J. Král Gallery on the first floor (indicated by G in the drawings). The visitor appropriately returns to the beginning of the exhibition (the loop closes), and in the infinite space of the circle, the exhibits of this section are also displayed. All sections are interconnected by the timeline, which introduces the visitor to historical contexts. The line of the timeline flows smoothly through the galleries across the floor, walls, ceiling, and staircase. The complex space of the House of Art thus becomes one space-time.

INSTALLATION OF BETA, GAMMA VERSIONS, etc.
The overall concept of the exhibition allows for arbitrary reductions of individual sections. All panels or objects can be installed in a different place anew and independently from the alpha version; they are flexibly adaptable to various sizes of spaces and exhibition halls. It therefore depends on the cooperation between the curator and architect regarding how much reduction of exhibits needs to be implemented and how many panels can be used and assembled into new forms of objects.

PRICE:
The entire system is designed with regard to the real possibilities of this exhibition project during the unpredictable financial crisis, when it can be expected that resources will be critically scarce rather than abundant. As a measure of the financial demands, the concept of a classical exhibition format presented on banal drywall paneling serves. By rearranging a similar volume of material and work, added value is created, the ambition of which is to achieve what Janák writes about: to the same requirement of cubic content corresponds an infinite series of spaces of the same content capacity. The spirit chooses between these spaces the shape that most particularly corresponds to the need felt by it. And thus, the spirit is everywhere the force that organizes the building whole from the given purpose and given construction, which is only realized through this necessarily free cooperation of the spirit and becomes architecture.

VISUAL STYLE:
We believe that separating the visual aspect of the exhibition from the architectural concept is as violent as having one photographer take a picture of one’s eyes, another of one’s nose, and then gluing the cut-up photos together. For this reason, we present the idea of the visual style and graphic form of the entire exhibition as an inseparable part.

The main artistic element of the visual style is the ubiquitous black line that runs throughout the exhibition in the form of a timeline, the edges of geometric elements of the panelling, and, not least, occasionally appears in the very works of Pavel Janák. The contrasting black-and-white concept of the architecture of the exhibition seamlessly transitions to the entire visual style. The architecture blends with the graphics and vice versa. The entire strategy of the graphic concept rests on an associative approach and easy memorability - the printed program composed in the shape of a regular tetrahedron can remind even a layperson of Janák's porcelain and architecture after a year. It is about popularization and a new view of a significant figure in Czech architecture, who, despite his uniqueness, remains unknown to a wider audience. The neutral black-and-white exhibition is characterized in individual creative periods by the characteristic shapes and forms appearing in Janák's architecture, these shapes then naturally transition to the covers of CDs, catalogs, and other promotional materials and gift items. Photographs can be cut into geometric shapes, as can the information panels.
The main font for the title of the exhibition and the complete visual style is the Hexenrunen typeface from the Střešovice type foundry by František Štorm (the geometry of the cut and strong line refers to the concept of the entire exhibition), with the complementary font being Frutiger CE.

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SUGGESTIONS:
Given the financial demands, we question whether it will be realistic (and whether it will remain a priority in relation to other investments) to mediate one of the period exhibitions as indicated in the libretto for the competition. The proposed concept is realizable "with" or "without" this possibility. As a suggestion, we recommend considering the possibility of a standalone website (see the success of the website for the Sutnar exhibition in Prague). Another option is to create a sort of miniature "café-information center" within the exhibition, where it would be possible to enjoy coffee from replicas of Janák's ceramics, to sit among the exhibits, to view and purchase catalogs, or to get acquainted with the accompanying events of the exhibition. This part should not duplicate the operation of the café on the ground floor of the House of Art, but could freely expand it and contribute to a visitor-friendly resonance of the installation.