JiÞ’ PÞ’hoda

Project ÒFILM EYE CATCHERSÒ

Approximately since the beginning of the
1980s film production has been followed
by the production of various
commodities, of Òreal objectsÒ baring
movie motifs. The purposes of this trend
were obviously commercial; on the other
hand, however, the film stories and
their imaginary world of heroes filtered
into the real world this way, away from
the projection halls. In my opinion, a
special kind of eyecatchers - film
advertisement - are of the same origin.
A certain representative motif of a film
is split up in space into several planes
which are set in a simple, cheap
cardboard brace with a stand. These
eye-catchers, free-standing objects, are
then placed in cinema foyers to
advertise a film. 

Since 1994 I have been interested in the
moment of change in the perception of
reality and its spatial qualities under
the influence of technical pictures from
different kinds of media. During 1995 -
1997, I finished three works in which I
deal with film, namely with the origin
of film ÒrealityÒ as a formal
inspiration for my work. This series of
works is called ÒShot/Clapboard 01, 02,
03 (ÒSand StormÒ, ÒThe DelugeÒ, 
ÒLight at the end of a TunnelÒ). 

Film was the first, and by now remains
the most complex, illusive expression of
reality by means of technical pictures.
Since the moment of its mass infusion
our whole culture has changed markedly,
and now, in the computer era, this
change will be even more distinctive.
This is evidence of the strong need for
the contact (more pleasant and
comfortable) between media and reality
in comparison with physical contact on
the one hand, and on the other hand it
represents an inspiration of my original
concept of work. The final installation
is just a means for its transcription by
means of media. 

All the Òinteriors - exteriors for the film
shots/clapboardsÒ are intended only for
their transcription, for the film media.
They imitate reality in a real
three-dimensional space, although they
are not real, the same as they are not a
two-dimensional illusion of reality. 
Inspired by the above mentioned
eye-catchers, I prepared the project of
eye-catchers which are not intended for
a real film, but only to its
exterior-interior shots/clapboards,
which means coulisses. When I install
these ÒfalseÒ eye-catchers into the
cinema foyers and to other advertisement
sites (where the ÒrealÒ films are
advertised), I will make, I suppose, the
cinema-goers expect a new film. This is,
in fact, an effort to stimulate an idea,
a feeling, a theme for discussion in a
non-artificial environment, in a
non-artificial way; people can e.g.
think, why are real films produced, and
why are they so popular. 

In case the spectators ask for further
information about the ÒcoulissesÒ on the
eye-catchers, the documentation o the
project will be provided on the Internet
or e-mail, an address will be on the
eye-catcher.