Adam Vačkář: First and Last Things – Artyčok.tv

The  title of this already second exhibition presented in the framework of the  Intervention  in the Colloredo-Mansfeld Palace paraphrases the eponymous book by H. G. Wells, and accordingly pursues the subject of a spiritually decaying society and the consequences of material overproduction.

The artist returns to the iconographically established genre of  “nature morte”  which mainly became widespread in the 17th  century. Vačkářʼs works, however, are not canvases but photographs of withering or artificial flowers, the latter combined with fresh ones without offering a first-sight distinction between the two. The series of photographs is accompanied by a project entitled  Margin of Hope, created in Morocco in early 2014. It documents the clash between consumer society and the original native community and employs plastic bottles as a launching pad for further elaboration, as well as a catalyst of faith in a brighter future. Vačkář reserved some space in the ballroom of the palace for ambient minimalist music and a display of musical scores the “notes” of which he punched out by pistol shots.