Men in garden
Photographs, 2016 – ongoing, various formats, with Alžběta Kočvarová
Also published as Les mecs dans le jardin, Chlapi v zahradě
Czech-specific social documentary art project on the Unbearable Lightness of Being in vacation summer houses
The never-ending series Men in garden is visually based on the Czech photographic scene of the 1960s – 1970s, as well as the distinctive Czech phenomenon of spending time in summer houses – escaping from reality. However, it is not a paraphrase or just typology. Men in garden aren’t even a documentary as we know it, artists purposely ignore the World Press Photo; banal photographs of men in gardens push the boundaries of a documentary towards a game with visuals and exaggerated reflection on existence and the flow of life. Snapshots are inspired by insignificant situations of people constantly cultivating the gardens. Motives are still repeated – but unrepeatable. The series captures this particular blend of absurdity, aimlessness, humor and existentiality. Images that we would not even pay attention to in normal life turn into a bizarre scenery and force us to ask many questions.