Grotesque hyperbole and mystification belongs among the trademarks of Czech culture and creating false identities is one of the strategies of contemporary art. The images of individual parts of Entropa use artistic techniques often characterised by provocation. The piece thus also lampoons the socially activist art that balances on the verge between would-be controversial attacks on national character and undisturbing decoration of an official space. We believe that the environment of Brussels is capable of ironic self-reflection, we believe in the sense of humour of European nations and their representatives.
If art and associated attitudes are not to become pleasing-appearance ready-made goods, but a living, albeit perhaps fleeting, organism, art should be able to improve exactness of its message in the time allotted to it and thus, paradoxically, define itself in history. This improvement of exactness means that its individual, selective sieve can cover the so-called objective sieve. Where their nodes do not coincide, `free space` opens. Energy of the free space is proportional to the power of sharing, or, more precisely, it is the sum of the freely pulsating words which, in this context and in each specific time, is able to define (tangle up) different meanings naturally through spontaneous intuition. These screen points are spatial holograms of historical memory, experience, and therefore each such new overlap becomes another non-linear tangle to the naked eye.
socially activist art
What's that? This sounds like a right-wing call-word, but maybe I'm completely off.
We believe that the environment of Brussels is capable of ironic self-reflection
...which, again, assumes that the artist's stereotypes have anything to do with stuff to self-reflect upon. Methinks this is the case of a bad joker who rather blames lack of humour on the part of the victims of his bad jokes. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
And Cerny has been wildly successful with this piece because everyone is talking about it (though whether that constitutes a dialogue that furthers understanding remains to be seen)
"Unfortunately for Bulgaria, this shows in a certain way that some nations have a sense of humour and some do not. I have apologised but when we were travelling to Bulgaria when I was young, the biggest difference for a child was the toilet, so that was the first thing that came to my mind."
How boorish. So it was really his very limited knowledge of the world (even at the level of stereotypes).
I have looked at Černý's other work in the meantime. Some interesting stuff (like the St. Václav on a dead horse) and a some other idiotic provocations (like the paint attack on the war memorial tank). *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
"I am seriously very pro-European," Mr Cerny told The Times. "It would be a great pity if Europe would not be able to take this as a bit of satire and irony. If we are strong as Europe it should be OK for one nation to make fun of other nations."
I'm not even sure where to begin picking this apart. So he wants to test Brussels... by provoking reactions from national governments. And sees himself as a nation. Or representative of it. Or entertainer of it?
Really stuff for the Torygraph to love. (Or is that a double-trick played on them? Nah, I doubt it.)
Mr Cerny added: "Monty Python and Sacha Baron Cohen are probably the most exceptional examples of satiric politically-incorrect humour and maybe because the British have this sense of humour they are able to take the joke better than some other nations.
I disagree, I happen to find national stereotyping not funny at all.
When I was an Erasmus student in the UK there was a sort of welcome event for all the international students, and there were a lot of us. The event was introduced by the Chancellor of the University who thought the best way to break the ice was to treat us to a string of not so funny and sometimes offensive jokes on people'd nationality. Bleh. Most economists teach a theoretical framework that has been shown to be fundamentally useless. -- James K. Galbraith
BTW, I thought the send-up must be domestic or amateurish, because of the "Agnes Cerese" for Hungary: "Cerese" just doesn't fit into Hungarian. (Well, maybe as an Italian immigrant.) But having checked, most other names appear to exist in the appropiate language. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
