This artist's book takes a look back at ten years of works by Czech performer Vladimir Havlík and offers a powerful reflection on the influence of formats in our reception of photographic images.
This photographic documentation (gelatine silver prints) has been produced from all extant negatives depicting Vladimir Havlík's interventions from 1978-1988. The form of documentation, released from the patina of vintage prints, ought to permit the viewer complete concentration on the content of individual performances… Is the content somehow transformed when freed from the nostalgic form of yellowing photographs? What is the relationship between live events, observed by the “primary” viewer-participant, to the information transferred through the medium of the photographic record to the “secondary viewer”?
Born 1959 in Nove Mesto na Morave (current Czech Republic), Vladimir Havlík is an art
performer. His work also include drawing, painting, visual poetry and video art. His production is characterized by movement on the thin line between art and life, accompanied by permanent reflection of its own creative process. The events, performances and
Land art interventions which have been executed from the late 70's are characterized by distinctive poetry, romance, innocence, gentle humor, legible friendliness, and by cheerful exhibitionism. They are distinctive by a duality of nature—urban environment, balancing between the seriously intentioned and immediately challenged element. The media “performance” and its documentation is also subjected to critical review in his current work.
