Michal Pěchouček, A Hole in the Palm

For long Aleksandra Vajd and Hynek Alt remain remarkably faithful to one medium without an effort to create a distinctive brand, identifiable style which they would continuously expand show after show (while both publicly presented carefully and in reasonable periods). Photography is an essential medium for this couple. Photography which is constantly reviewed by them and its story is told through video and installation. Each new concept of this creative pair is surprise in a remarkable transformation of the visual forms. The content of their work is consistently very personal and in a long-term perspective deals with the limits of perception of the ordinary reality.

For the 35m2 Gallery A.V. and H.A. created an installation of several images, all of which combine the essence of optical illusion and photographic magic. The images have the character of evidence or instructions that are clearly readable and coded. They present cases of absurd demonstrations of familiar tricks or original figures, which may be either a specific allusion to a work from art history or popular scientific illustrations. Motives and objects used for demonstration of perception of space (the recording and transmission via outlook) are carefully chosen so that the viewer realize the impossibility of a glimpse of the situation, without it being photographed and printed.

The poster, which the viewer can take home, is a textbook example of how a projected image can correspond to an infinite number of objects, while with no other relevant information we see it every time the same. Other "instructions" demonstrate simple laws of linear perspective, the reduction of a three-dimensional reality, and convergence of eyes which allows the illusion of a "hole in the palm."

The exhibition is introduced by an image depicting a figure standing in a room with no furniture on one leg. The man staring out the window into another space, watching something out of the picture. Choice of viewing angle may create an illusion of a levitating figure, but the substantial is simple vertical movement of balancing on the hidden leg. Almost a trivial moment defines the perception of space in its important dimension - the immediate physical experience.

Michal Pechoucek