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Dialectics of Subjection #2
video, 3 min. 45 sec.
2005

Dialectics of Subjection #2 was made especially for the Prague Biennale 2, one of the two biennale for contemporary art that surprisingly took place in the same city at the same time - in the summer of 2005 in Prague. This unusual situation was a result of personal acrimony translated into cultural combat. In 2003, the original Prague Biennale was co-founded by Giancarlo Politi, the editor of the Milan-based Flash Art, and his longtime friend Milan Knizak, the director of the National Gallery in Prague. The preparation of this ambitious show turned into an avalanche of arguments and misunderstandings and the conflict gradually escalated in mutually offensive public appearances, vitupertive e-mails addressed to art-world professionals and rude slandering in the lobbies as well as in media. The whole cultural scene became an arena where both males tried to prove their prestige and dominance. As a result of this public duel, both rivals decided to found his own biennale, that would be the final affirmation of their victory. Thus, in the year 2005, Prague, usually an artistic periphery, hosted two ferociously competing art shows.
This video was an attempt to reflect this competition from a different point of view. The video is a recording of our dialogue about Politi and Knizak, taking place in a homey atmosphere. Lying on the floor and drinking wine, our debate develops from judging their physiognomy to us teasing each other with questions like "would you sleep with him?" and "for how much?". The whole discussion then turns into considering trading our sexual favors in exchange for the possible career support from Knizak and Politi and in which we confront not only their sexappeal, but their political and medial power as well as their influence within the art world.















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