Václav Jirásek (1965) has created for the Rudolfinium Gallery a new project entitled Industria, taking as its theme “dying” factories.
In an ensemble of roughly seventy large-format colour
photographs, he depicts the narrative of the decay of metallurgic
industry, of those "cathedrals of labour" that, since the
industrial revolution of the 19th century, symbolised the dynamism
of the way forward. Now, the colossal, half-ruinous factory halls
full of gigantic, mute, rust-bound machinery, amid heaps of dust
and slag, are now almost entirely empty and quiet. In a way, it is
a metaphor of a dying Europe and its long-lost dream of the titanic
deployment of universal engineering, the guarantee of prosperity
and high living standards, captured in close-up photographs
ex-post. Only, in a few sections there are still people at work.
And it is precisely their portraits, at nearly life size, that form
the one living moment making reference towards the future.
"INDUSTRIA" Documentation of Postindustrial Space Project Industria
is in essence a natural continuation of the project "Wannieck
Factory- a farewell to the industrial age", which consisted in the
photographic documentation of the disused Vaňkovka engineering
works in Brno for the foundation Nadace Vaňkovka between 1994 and
1996. With camera in hand, I was present during the entire course
of the transformation of the living object of a still-operating
factory into an empty architectonic skeleton ready for re-use in a
new "brown fields" redevelopment. The transformation of a
technicist, materialistic space into one of spiritual dimensions
was truly astonishing, and these industrial temples radiant with
light formed the heart of a collection of fifty black-and-white
images. After several years, I returned to this theme, attempting
to depict one of the typical phenomena of recent years -
concentrating on the remnants of the industrial era of the 1950s,
1960s and 1970s and the process of its contemporary transformation.
Though it may seem to us that this period is not so far removed, or
so deserving of attention, the opposite is true. Though the things
disappearing may at first seem insignificant, in actual fact we are
witnessing the vanishing of an entire stage of human history. What
is exceptional is that these environments were until only very
recently living their original life. At the same time, the world of
heavy physical labour remains outside of much of public interest;
in the contemporary world of advertising and physical perfection,
it would seem no longer to exist. The heavy industry only decades
previously celebrated, as the herald of a new age now seems to have
outlived its time. And deserted factories have assumed the role
once held by romantic castles and dinosaur fossils. The project is
composed of two main sections. One: the documentation of the
architecture and the environment of industry, yet with particular
attention to the intimate scenes of the working population of the
"past century". If we look carefully at the industrial world, we
notice a very particular aesthetic of "functionality". Forms
defined by the laws of physics and the requirements of engineers
are, in fact, truly beautiful. Very quickly, the observer succumbs
to the enchantment of corrugated iron, enamel paint, wire-glass and
the sober force of scarred walls, an impression strengthened still
further by the extreme burdens under which these objects were
places, creating a patina that almost seems to transport them
outside of the present world. Frequently, I had the sense that
factories are live organisms, functioning outside the awareness of
the individuals that work there. Old buildings interweave
themselves with new ones; disused pipes and wires are left where
they lie, with new ones sprouting on top of them like the lianas of
the jungle. Industry's penetration of the landscape, and the
following return of nature into industry's remnants, makes it clear
that technology is only a peculiar form of nature itself. Spending
time in such a setting was, for me, a highly emotional experience,
and at times I felt myself to be a kind of archaeologist. Very
frequently, I came across strange home-made or individually adapted
pieces of furniture and bizarre decorative "installations". This
irrepressible desire to make the inhospitable working environment
inhabitable fascinated me. The utilitarian yet unconscious
decorativeness of the objects, the recycling of material necessary
for their creation, is highly inspiring: a peculiar form of
primitive "design", recalling the artwork of tribal peoples. The
hand-made chairs, tables, ashtrays etc. are all objects of design,
each being a specific original. Something like this is how I would
imagine the distant apocalyptic future of our planet. Second:
portraits of the workers themselves, in their own way equally the
"products" of this environment. I attempted to create truthful,
unmanipulated portraits of strong personalities. The common
denominator of these portraits is the respect of the icon, yet at
the same time the presence of something that we might term "the
fallen": in the age of flawless advertising models, I wanted to
depict the forgotten people, those tested by harsh reality. Just as
I previously spoke of "design" in the photographs of the work
environments, I could also speak of the element of fashion in the
portraits. Tattered overalls become an object of beauty; protective
gear becomes the bearer of a strange mystery. These colour
photographs were taken with a large-format (4x5 inch) camera.
Consequently, their conception is not as a classic
"life-documentary", but the modern language of the
neo-naturalistic. In large format, these images offer an
interesting chance to regard a traditional theme in a new light -
while also pushing at the boundaries of what we consider the
documentary photograph. Project Industria was carried out in the
years 2004 and 2005 in several selected factories in the Czech
Republic. The greatest number of images was taken in the former ČKD
Blansko (now ČKD Blansko strojírny, a. s. and DSB EURO, a. s.)
engineering works, the Poldi Kladno steel mill, the lower section
of the Vítkovice Ironworks, the Třinec Ironworks, OKD Karviná and
Mittal Steel Ostrava. Václav Jirásek Václav Jirásek 1965 Born in
Karviná 1985-1990 Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, Studio of
Professor Jiří Načeradský 1989-1994 One of the founding members of
the artistic group Bratrstvo [Brotherhood], with whom he exhibited
his photographic work anonymously. Currently lives in Prague as a
free-lance photographer. Solo exhibitions 1994 Vaňkovka -
rozloučení s průmyslovým věkem, Moravská galerie, Brno 1996 Galerie
Ambrosiana, Brno 1997 Vaňkovka, Tschechisches Zentrum, Berlin 1998
Galerie Alan, Wien 1998 Mesiac fotografie, České kulturní centrum,
Bratislava 1999 Vaňkovka, Galerie Alan, Wien 2000 Automatic, České
centrum fotografie, Praha 2000 Vaňkovka a Horizonty, Galeria
Fotografii pf, Poznań 2001 Automatic, Fotofestival, Kolín 2002
Vaňkovka, České centrum fotografie, Praha 2006 Industria, Galerie
Rudolfinum, Praha Group exhibitions 1994 V ostrém světle, Pražský
dům fotografie, Praha 1995 Memento Mori (common project V. Jirásek,
R. Novák, I. Pinkava), Galerie Rudolfinum, Praha 1996 Vrais Reves
Galerie, Lyon (together with I. Pinkava and V. Židlický) 1997
Project Chimaera, Halle 1997 Centro de la Imagen, Mexico City 1998
Kontakty, Galeria Pusta, Katowice 1999 Taitemia-galleria, Kuopio
2000 Konec světa?, Národní galerie v Praze 2000 Melancholie,
Moravská galerie, Brno 2000 Společnost před objektivem, Obecní dům,
Praha (rerun Moravská galerie, Brno) 2000 Akt v české fotografii,
Císařská konírna Pražského hradu, Praha 2001 Vintage and
Contemporary Czech Photography, SK Josefsberg Studio, Portland,
Oregon; Contemporary Photography in the Czech Republic, Benham
Studio Gallery, Seattle, Washington. 2001 Akt v české fotografii,
Muzeum umění, Olomouc 2001 Galeria Sztuki Współczesnej, Wrocław
2002 Divočina, Galerie Klatovy/Klenová - Galerie U Bílého
jednorožce, Klatovy 2002 Laboratoř současných tendencí, Národní
galerie v Praze 2003 Pocta statečným, Galerie Langhans, Praha 2003
Vaňkovka magická, Galerie Jižní křídlo Křížové chodby, Nová
radnice, Brno 2003 Ejhle světlo, Moravská galerie, Brno 2005 Česká
fotografie 20. století, Galerie hlavního města Prahy - Městská
knihovna, Praha
Rudolfinum Gallery
