No Times for Heroes until October 5 in Prague

Italy, Naples, is represented by Danilo Capasso and Christian Costa

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19-09-2011
categories: Design, Architecture, Art,

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No Times for Heroes until October 5 in Prague

Italy, Naples, is represented by Danilo Capasso and Christian Costa

The idea of the international project No Time For Heroes is to involve a group of artists, working in the field of public art and site-specific experiments. The project connects European cities: Kladno-Prague, Naples and Gdańsk, touching the problems of waterfront privatisation and the global usage of water resources. It attempts to stimulate the research of the use of waterways as a means of transport and communication. These industrial zones used to be an important part of production, now such locations are dangerous and abandoned, sometimes such former industrial zones are claimed back by the nature. The mission of the project is to develop the artistic research focused on the confrontation and presentation of these industrial areas, waterways and sea, and to find a better strategy for treating these zones and using their surroundings to preserve them.

Former steel mill POLDI, later on Poldi Kladno SONP, is one of the most interesting industrial complexes in the Czech Republic. This ancient development of Poldi Kladno SONP consists of large cement tanks that contained water and various chemicals used in steel production. It is also worth to point out the architectural diversity of Kladno by emphasizing the Art Nouveau villas that were built around the factories by outstanding architects as Josef Hoffmann. Czech artist Martin Janíček presents performance and installation that reproduces the soundscape of the industrial zones in Kladno and Gdańsk. Martin Zet reuses urban objects and transforms their function and meaning into his personal vision of the contemporary society.

 

The city of Naples is divided into two parts. The east of the city is a poor district around the port, where in the 80's huge factories were built and abandoned a decade later. The West area of Naples is totally different with luxury villas overlooking the sea near the famous park of Virgilio and the island of Capri. Italian artists Christian Costa and Danilo Capasso are researching the urban history of east part of Naples, exercising their artistic strategy of interventions to the outskirts and it's degradation.
The installation with photography and video by Danilo Capasso explores the “liminal spaces” of eastern Naples and reflects “a state of being between one´s past and future identities”. The documentary video and series of photography of Christian Costa brings  critical view on the degradation of industrial area of Naples called Cirio, Vela, Ponticelli, and the port area.


Sliding Limen by Danilo Capasso, screened at the artist's Vimeo link at the bottom of this news, is a solo with the editorial&publishing strategy of the artist book part of the installation. The architect and sound artist's video is built with the addiction of the natural landscape and the fractal areas of Naples East. These latter are the primal source of art&regeneration programs and projects, of art and community events that N.EST, the online EN/IT database curated by Capasso since its birth on 2004, promotes.


The grounds of the Gdańsk Shipyard are very unique. It's here where the strikes, the system changes and the Solidarity movement began. The city is also interesting from the point of exploration of the waterfront. This is an example of adaptation of already existing architecture by changing its function (from industrial production halls into artistic lofts) and relations between the shipyard workers and artistic activities.

Through a hypnotic flight of the seagull, the Polish artist Dominika Skutnik magnifies in the sublime way the relationships between the world of dreams, urban sounds and associations.
Jaro Dufek combines different water sounds of Prague, Naples and Gdańsk through the interactive artwork using mobile phones. Krzysztof Topolski aka Arszyn researches different strategies how to capture the urban sound and to create minimal acoustic installation.

 

Cooperation:

MEMENEST Associazione Culturale, Naples

Communication space Školská 28, Prague

6th Bienale Vestiges of Industry 2011 (Prague-Kladno)

 

The exhibition is presented in framework of the 6th Biennial Vestiges of Industry 2011 (Prague-Kladno), supported by ČVUT in Prague.

www.industrialnistopy.cz

 

Support:

Residency of Krzysztof Topolski is realized thanks to the International Visegrad Fund (IVF).

Polish participation is supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.

 

Collaboration:

RESEARCH CENTRE FOR INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE FA CTU PRAGUE/ VÝZKUMNÉ CENTRUM PRŮMYSLOVÉHO DĚDICTVÍ FA ČVUT V PRAZE

 

The project Communication space Školská 28 is supported by a grant from the Prague Municipal. The exhibition and parallel programs have been realized since 2005 with the kind financial support from the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.

 

Artists: Martin Janíček / Martin Zet / Danilo Capasso / Christian Costa / Jaro Dufek / Dominika Skutnik / Krzysztof Topolski aka Arszyn

Curated by:Aleksandra Grzonkowska /PL/ Susanna Horvatovičová /IT/CZ/ Dagmar Šubrtová /CZ/

Media partners: Artmap, His Voice.

 

Skolska 28: Communication space

at ul. Skolska 28, Prague, P-1 in courtyard - through passage,
ph. +420 296 325 066,
skolska28@skolska28.cz