Matej Gavula: Open Mezzanine
We cordially invite you to the exhibition of Matej Gavula at the Temporary Cultural Space in Petržalka.
Where?
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Temporary Cultural Space (dkp)
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Rovniankova 5
851 02 Bratislava – Petržalka -
Opening hours:
Thu – Fri: 15:00 – 19:00
Sat – Sun: 13:00 – 16:00
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When?
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Opening: 4 July 2025 at 18:00
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Duration: 4 July – 27 July 2025
Guest:
Andreas Fogarasi
Curator:
Daniel Grúň
Whose Support Are You?
Matej Gavula and the Liberation of the Useful Sculpture
(Notes on the Open Mezzanine exhibition at DKP)
An open mezzanine is a space between floors, a kind of intermediate level from which we can view the space below, but also its surroundings. Since it is not fully enclosed, its openness is often a benefit in theaters, libraries, and galleries. In principle, it is an in-between space with a supportive function. It allows architecture to breathe in its immediate surroundings and exhale them outward. An ideal open mezzanine is designed to be invisible in its own presence.
What we perceive often includes the invisible or overlooked. From experience, we don’t care about supports, crutches, guards – but if we let them speak, we suddenly perceive the fullness of the emptiness they surround, support, and protect. The outlining of emptiness expresses the power of desire, but also of fear. A tight boundary also signals rarity, and what is bounded is worthy of protection. It’s an attraction without physical pressure.
To stray from the main current and return against the flow means to perceive the stream in reverse and bear the risk of collision. A frontal collision with the invisible makes us see.
The world around us is full of useful sculptures – we just don’t perceive them as aesthetic objects. The working class of useful sculptures has yet to be liberated by any revolution. No leader has ever summoned a congress of useful sculptures to emerge from the shadows and raise their voice. Has anyone pointed to the origin of inequality, to unjust treatment, or to their hard conditions in the background? A world without handles, railings, corner guards, and supports would be unmanageable – we would fall into the abyss of uselessness.
If until now everything useless has been considered beautiful, perhaps now something useful could also be beautiful. To strip useful things of their function and transpose them into other materials. For example, to cast a polystyrene object in bronze. Or to cast a wooden thing in concrete. Let’s say such useful sculptures become useless through transposition. This gives them a ticket into the class of privileged objects. A quiet revolution has begun; the palace of the privileged has collapsed.
A new meaning for the word “sculpt” could be – to support. Photography is a statement: this situation happened. The object in the photo pierces twice: into (its) space and into (my) gaze. A crime scene photo makes me an accomplice. The photographed object is no longer in its original place. Its image seeps down the display screen. The observer sees in these situations potential opportunities for liberation.
A new mode of visibility may arise by presenting useful things as useless. But the resistance of the material will reveal them as spies and intruders in the world of the privileged. Uncovering their conspiracy will inspire an unpredictable continuation. The hidden form will merge with the artwork that reveals, conceals, and protects. It will become an inseparable part of the privileged class.
The rebellion is uncovered, the guilty are freed.
Daniel Grúň
