ARTIST STATEMENT

1) Sum up the main character of your work, your long-term interests and themes.

Imagine that you are a human.

That this image is your only available means, and at the same time an obstacle, to the world in which you wish to live.

The central motif of my work is that of posthumanist thought which reflects the human’s (subject’s) crisis of identity in living among the ruins of the great figures of Western thought (Culture, Nature, Freedom…). I observe how the ideals of Modernism materialize in particular habitats of Central Europe.

I usually choose stories in which we are exposed to the outcomes of our own projections and where the spheres of our interest escape their original intentions and become unpredictable and alien.My works thus feature alongside each other animals, objects, artificial intelligences, natural reservations and so-called natural disasters.All of them are micro and macro actors with whom I work in various aesthetic regimes, like moving image, live events, installations, objects or original programs.I am interested in one ancient question - How to be together? And yes, I mean your neighbors too.

2) Describe the context of your work – what are your inspirational sources and theoretical starting points, which artists and tendencies do you consider as referential to your work.

I am attracted to stories which transcend anthropocentric concepts and transform their dominant paradigms. These can be found in a spider web on a traffic light, in the first Czech Klimakemp, or a rave party at a dump.

All these are encounters for me which teach me that action is always a collective endeavor. Apart from the already-mentioned posthumanism, I would like to mention Critical Animal Studies and fields which focus on environmental questions with some overlap with the humanities (anthropology, philosophy and pedagogy).

Here is a list of some encounters which provided stimulus to my own practice.

Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, Ateliér bez vedoucího, a wild dog on a road in Israel, Pedro Neves Marques, Ruth Noack, 7th Berlin Biennale, T.J. Demos, Paulo Tavares, Nonhuman Rights Project, Tomáš Uhnák, Witold Gombrowicz, Feministická instituce, Michel Tournier, Juan Downey, Donna Haraway,Maggie Nelson, Michael Pollan, Kali Malone,Lav Diaz, Limity jsme my, Ursula K. Le Guin,Jean Rouch, Věra Linhartová, Bruno Latour, Institut of Anxiety, Henry the cat, J. G. Rosa, La Via Campesina, Anselm Franke, Tereza Stöckelová,Renzo Martens, Rosi Braidotti, Světlana Alexijevičová, Paul B. Preciado, Philippe Descola, wind from Tilos island, fog in Duchcov park, Michael Ende, Bella Hooks, Jerome Bell, Tiger in Lešná Zlín zoo, Martin Kohout, Rights of Nature from the Constitution of Ecuador 2008.

3) Try to characterize what makes your work specific, wherein lies its force, what makes it different from the work of artists with similar approaches and themes.

I understand the idea behind such a question but I do not like its underlying reasoning.

For me it is important to be part of a discourse which aims to replace the dominant one (which we could call neo-liberal or late capitalism). And this discourse cannot be changed by one, but by many. The romanticized image of an exceptional artist as someone who manifests whatever they may see beyond a horizon otherwise inaccessible to the majority population is part of the problem in which we currently find ourselves.

I do what many people interested in the so-called post-natural condition do, but that does not mean it would lack relevance. Quite the contrary. Many people are dedicated to it and so it is worth paying attention to.I don’t know what’s beyond the horizon. Art is for me one of the many disciplines which provides a register for sharing the circumstances which we inhabit. I consider this the only hope we have of co-creating those narratives which would re-write the ideals constructed during the past centuries.

Apart from existential reasons (money and culture capital) this is one of the main reasons I am applying for the Jindřich Chalupecký Award.

4) What is your work process like? Do you deal with preparation and research? How do you search for your themes? How do you choose the media you work in?

It is endless.

My work process is an argonaut ship subject to constant reconstruction, testing and searching fitting combinations of those elements necessary to sail on.I am not interested in one medium or in virtuosity, but rather the accuracy with which I might be able to speak about insecurity and awe.

I steal language wherever I can.

5) What is your vision for the future? How do you want to develop your work and continue your previous projects/realizations? What is your long-term goal/dream?

My work ought to take me beyond the comfort zone of artistic practice. How to lead communication and sharing without adopting dialog and collectivity as self-serving fetishes.I would like to work more on interdisciplinary projects which would not cater to art being mere illustration for science or activist propaganda, but as an equal partner who can innovate the methodology of research or the foster forms of political resistance and imagination.

One of my dreams is to study at a state school (if in the future there is still a state to speak of) where we would unlearn the technocratic frame of mind founded on neo-liberal values.Instead it would be a place where both human and non-human actors could learn from each other. It would incorporate principles of critical pedagogy, ecofeminism and de-colonization with inclusive and transparent decision-making processes. The school would not have an application exam and would offer support to all age demographics of people from pre-school age to seniors - it would be a community which would care for its surroundings.It would be financed from the taxes (not donations!) of those subjects who most contribute to global warming and extractivism or other forms of structural violence.

I basically dream about any practices which would contribute to a future which is not custom-made for the 1% of the global population.

BIOGRAPHY

David Přílučík (*1991) graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. During his studies, he studied in the studios of Jiří Lindovský, Tomáš Vaněk, Ruth Noack and Simon Waschmuth. He also participated in an internship program in Israel - at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design. He is a member of the Studio Without Master and Artyčok TV association. His work has been exhibited not only in the Czech Republic, but also in several other countries (USA, Israel, Germany, Russia, Hungary). For his video – called Blind Bidding – Přílučík won the main prize in the Other Visions CZ competition at the 16th Festival of Film Animation and Contemporary Art, PAF Olomouc.