Koller, Július (SK)
Carlsberg Tap E
Július Koller
1939-2007, born in Piestany, Slovakia
Július Koller's scepticism towards inflexible structures and prevailing norms
constitutes a crucial element of his conceptual art practice. Influenced by the events related to the Prague Spring in 1968 and the subsequent political suppression and military occupation of Czechoslovakia, Koller developed a unique and personal artistic space. From this independent position he was able to handle a far too present reality.
The role of committed observer is expressed, for example, in the way Koller keeps returning to the phenomenon of the UFO. Since 1970 the designation U.F.O. has figured in many of Koller's works. The photographic work Demonstrative Cultural Situation 1, 2 (U.F.O.) from 1989 shows Koller flinging a large, circular disc into the air, as a potential signal from or contact to an unknown and different world. In the photographs Monologic - Jojo 1, 2 (U.F.O.) from 1982 it is not a question of creating contact to anything. It is rather a monologue in which a sad concrete architecture serves as backdrop to Koller's dryly humorous UFO gesture. He appears as a small individual among the massive high-rise buildings, controlling the fixed and reiterated movements of a white yoyo. Simple actions and small fictions symbolize the expectations and notions of a different place.
The question mark is a recurrent signature in Koller's conceptual drawings,
paintings, photographs and performances. This symbol, familiar to us all, suggests communication, doubt or astonishment. In Koller's art, this sign is used as an attempt to keep on questioning the cultural and socio-political situation, for example when he puts questions marks on a wall or when he forms a question mark with a group of kids sitting on a hill. His so-called Anti-Happenings create cultural situations that activate the immediate surroundings and invites reflection.
Koller has also concerned himself with the systems that structure sports such
as tennis or table tennis in which you act within a set of rules ensuring that the
opponents are on equal terms from the outset. You exchange and compare each
other's moves. When Koller hides his face behind a table tennis bat, as a kind of
defence mechanism, he addresses the lack of proper dialogue between two parties. Július Koller's small semantic displacements of familiar everyday situations raise our awareness of philosophical and societal issues.
-NG
Július Koller's scepticism towards inflexible structures and prevailing norms
constitutes a crucial element of his conceptual art practice. Influenced by the events related to the Prague Spring in 1968 and the subsequent political suppression and military occupation of Czechoslovakia, Koller developed a unique and personal artistic space. From this independent position he was able to handle a far too present reality.
The role of committed observer is expressed, for example, in the way Koller keeps returning to the phenomenon of the UFO. Since 1970 the designation U.F.O. has figured in many of Koller's works. The photographic work Demonstrative Cultural Situation 1, 2 (U.F.O.) from 1989 shows Koller flinging a large, circular disc into the air, as a potential signal from or contact to an unknown and different world. In the photographs Monologic - Jojo 1, 2 (U.F.O.) from 1982 it is not a question of creating contact to anything. It is rather a monologue in which a sad concrete architecture serves as backdrop to Koller's dryly humorous UFO gesture. He appears as a small individual among the massive high-rise buildings, controlling the fixed and reiterated movements of a white yoyo. Simple actions and small fictions symbolize the expectations and notions of a different place.
The question mark is a recurrent signature in Koller's conceptual drawings,
paintings, photographs and performances. This symbol, familiar to us all, suggests communication, doubt or astonishment. In Koller's art, this sign is used as an attempt to keep on questioning the cultural and socio-political situation, for example when he puts questions marks on a wall or when he forms a question mark with a group of kids sitting on a hill. His so-called Anti-Happenings create cultural situations that activate the immediate surroundings and invites reflection.
Koller has also concerned himself with the systems that structure sports such
as tennis or table tennis in which you act within a set of rules ensuring that the
opponents are on equal terms from the outset. You exchange and compare each
other's moves. When Koller hides his face behind a table tennis bat, as a kind of
defence mechanism, he addresses the lack of proper dialogue between two parties. Július Koller's small semantic displacements of familiar everyday situations raise our awareness of philosophical and societal issues.
-NG