Cool District
Cool District is the name of a city district in the center of Rotterdam. The area where the Berlinskej model is located in Prague 7 could also be considered “cool”. The only difference is that in Rotterdam the trendiness of the district was attributed somewhat artificially. A few years ago, city management decided to cram bars, design fairs, galleries and other hip spots nto several streets in the city center. This artificially created a center for people who like to think of themselves as hip with the times. No history, no aura.
I stayed in Rotterdam for 6 weeks. Due to the zero budget for the exhibition, which was to be the output of my residence, I decided to work in the style of a collector. I collected and stole materials from around the Cool District. I used these items, parts of advertisements, mainstream symbols, drug packaging or just materials that are not so common in the Czech urban landscape,as records of my derée. In addition to objects and installations commenting on the socio-political situation in today’s megapolis, I shot an eighteen-minute video there. In each of its parts, I tried to comment on four themes of urbanism with a performance, which is a crucial aspect of the work for me. In my work I try to capture the process of transferring a work from public space to the gallery / studio, where I discuss the breaking down of public and private boundaries. In this sense, the project can be seen as my artistic manifesto.
V.T.
The Cool District exhibition in the Berlinskej model will be a partial broadcast of the original exhibition from Rotterdam, which took place on April 25, 2014
Teaser for the original exhibition: https://vimeo.com/92189267
Information about the original exhibition: http://www.hetwildeweten.nl/2014/25-4-2014-vladimir-turner-cool-district/#more-3273