A different kind of archaelogy

The young Czech artist Zbyněk Baladrán, who will be artist-in-residence in the Vienna Museumsquartier in September and October of this year, presents his new video, Model of the construktivist tower, 1:50

Zbyněk Baladrán, who was born in Prague in 1973, was one of the co-founders of the Prague avant-garde gallery “Display” that presented its first exhibition in 2001. Baladrán collects film excerpts, photographs and documents from public and private archives –  primarily from his native country the Czech Republic – and uses them to put together new documentary films and installations. These are backed in part by new and old sounds. He calls the results ‘non-invasive archaeology’ in which the documentary aspect does not so much follow a logical narrative sequence but is characterised more by chance and by the artist’s subjective selection of his sources. These surreal, dream-like collages seem to have come from some collective memory.
Zbyněk Baladrán studied history of art at the “Charles University” and at the “Academy of Fine Arts”, both in Prague. He has shown his work at numerous international exhibitions at home and abroad including the “Manifesta 5” (2004) in Donostia - San Sebastián. This year he was artist-in-residence in quartier 21, a programme for which “tranzit” chooses the artists.


The most recent exhibitions (2006):

2006, Closely Observed Plans, tranzit workshops, Bratislava, curated by D. Kulhanek, SK
2006, Zbyněk Baladrán - Carlos Casas - Alice Guareschi, neon>fdv, Milano, curated by A.Grulli, IT
2006, archeology of today?, Kosova Art Gallery-Museum, Prishtina, KOSOVO
2006, Indikace, Jungmanova 21, Praha, curated by M. Serrano, CZ
2006, Donaumonarchie, Billboard project, Bratislava, curated by L.Tkacova, M.Keratova, SK
2006, Věcné stavy, Karlín Studios, Praha, curated by V. Magid, CZ

Video title:
Model of the construktivist tower, 1:50
DV/DVD, 4'18, 2006
Video installation