“Monument to Transformation . . .”

The two projects in “Monument to Transformation 1989–1968–2009: Installation model—Fragment #4,” curated by Vit Havranek, present contrasting ways of using the archives aesthetically. Vangelis Vlanos’s installation is a study of the political and economic relations between Bosnia and Greece, documenting the Greek-funded reconstruction of the parliamentary building in Sarajevo, partially destroyed in 1992. It is a piece of investigative journalism rendered spatial: The research material is presented in files, illustrated with two models of the building in question. To use the “archive” as an aesthetic notion here equals collecting and staging information, employing the gallery space in a more pedagogical manner than is often the case. Zbynek Baladrán and Willi Najvar’s collaboration came about indirectly. Baladrán made a public call for photos taken in Brno, Czech Republic, during the last fifty years. Najvar responded to the invitation, giving Baladrán access to his complete collection of photographs, a selection of which is included here. The pictures range from the public (demonstrations, meetings, lectures) to the personal (Najvar’s friends like to practice yoga outdoors). Baladrán used a complex method for selecting and organizing the photographs, apparently borrowed from an anthology of Czech experimental poetry. An elaborate system of notes and diagrams explains the procedure. The opaque relationship between the intricate method of classification and the everyday images has an estranging effect. Here, to use the “archive” as an aesthetic notion means to distort and experiment with the principles for organizing information and producing knowledge.