Saint Lucy

Sleeping in progress

collective of authors or Ondřej Rakušan, David Böhm and Jiří Franta, Aid Kid

The main inspiration for the video mapping installation are the drawings of the artist duo David Böhm and Jiří Franta. The black-and-white pen drawings, which are created as a daily work of the experienced hands of the artists, are full of almost Dadaist exaggeration. The projections in the context of the historical facade of the castle are reminiscent of illusory Renaissance sgraffito, which are combined with random textual messages that often accompany the daily works in progress. The figurative “sleep that is in progress” connotes the fact that St. Lucy is the patron saint of the blind and eye defects. Indeed, the artist duo Böhm and Franta often draw on similar motifs such as dreams or optical illusions or double meanings.
Animator Ondřej Rakušan retains elements from both worlds, both from popular video mapping installations and the wit contained in the artistic style of both cartoonists. The dynamic soundtrack was created by producer Aid Kid, whose music gives the installation a modern twist. In the remote and darkened space of the Troja Castle, behind whose walls the river flows, an endless stream of fantasy images and illusory exclamations also slowly but surely winds its way through.

Ondřej Rakušan studied scenography at the secondary school of arts and crafts and continued his studies at the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University under professor ac. sculptor. Marián Karel. Ondřej is an artist and animator dedicated to modern technologies. The strong point of his work is the combination of classical art education with the most modern techniques from the field of animation, graphics and digital media. Thanks to this specialization, he often collaborates with artists of well-known names, where he co-directs works with other artists thanks to his technical and artistic skills.
David Böhm and Jiří Franta work as an artistic duo. Their activities, which are primarily based on drawing, have a broad overlap, which in action and conceptually often goes beyond the boundaries of the sheet of paper. They have been working together since 2006, and during that time they have repeatedly been finalists for the Jindřich Chalupecký Award and have exhibited in the Czech Republic and abroad.

Aid Kid is a Czech producer of electronic music. He released his first and eponymous album, for which he won the Vinyla Award, in 2015. He has also worked on film projects, composing music for films such as Arvéd (2022) and Her Body (2023).

Jiří Suchánek, Pulse 33, 2013

algorithmic audio-visual installation (33 lights, 33 years, 33 sounds)

The representation of sound by light is obvious thanks to the parallel optical and acoustic sensations, but due to the relatively large number of objects, the viewer often still misses something… Thirty-three light objects freely distributed in space are synchronised with digital music generated by a specific algorithm. Each light has a fixed colour, sound and rhythm (pulse), the various combinations of which merge into a polyrhythmic structure. It is unlikely that the overall combination will ever be repeated exactly.
Jiří Suchánek is a Czech artist, musician, and multimedia experimenter. Since 2007, he has been focusing on creating permanent audiovisual installations, often placed in unconventional environments. He combines sound, light, objects, mechanics, electronics, and programming. Sound is the central element of his work, which he develops or complements through other media, unexpected social situations, or natural phenomena.

Jakub Nepraš, Tree, 2011

video sculpture, plexiglass, projection, sound

The video installation Tree by artist Jakub Nepraš represents an intersection between the real world and mental processes through the projection of light fragments onto transparent imprints of objects. The work explores human consciousness, where memories and experiences emerge based on the intensity of recordings in the neural map, forming a chaotic code that reflects our inner reality. The installation invites contemplation on whether mental records persist as part of the universe after the individual mind’s death or vanish like dreams upon waking.
Jakub Nepraš draws upon scientific and philosophical knowledge, as well as his own experiences, emotions, and intuition. He studies contemporary developmental trends and the behavior of our super-organism in relation to the position of the individual within the whole, observing natural principles that govern and influence these relationships. Jakub reflects on pivotal changes in society and technology and the resulting alienation in relationships with both people and nature.

Tereza Bartůňková, Tentative Grasping, 2024

site-specific installation, textile, light bulbs, audio

Sylvia Lim, Overlapping Transformations, 2022

bass clarinet, electric baritone guitar, violin, double bass

Tereza Bartůňková created the installation Tentative Grasping in response to a piece of music that was itself created in response to an artwork. The result is an intimate space in which to listen to Sylvia Lim’s Overlapping Transformations complemented by fragile haptic elements, the luminescent fibres of lightbulbs, and tentative tentacles hanging from the ceiling – as if one were suddenly under the sea, or under a forest.
Tereza Bartůňková is a freelance visual artist interested in natural phenomena, the relationship between the inner and outer world, and the power of light and atmosphere. She creates illustrations, drawings, objects, set and costume designs, as well as light installations that evoke ephemeral atmospheres, reveal hidden aspects of reality, and transport viewers into the inner landscapes of their subconscious. A graduate of the master’s program in scenography at KALD DAMU, she primarily focuses on original projects emphasizing the audiovisual dimension.