Videos by Jan Smutný have always tended towards a more essayist form with a strong authorial voice. The artist in his own way restricts himself to a “virtuous” cine visuality. He especially emphasizes the scenario, which enables a very agile way of working with narrative. During the author’s screening, he will present his older works, as well as ongoing projects that include texts. We will learn how Steven Soderbergh inspired his effort to make low-cost feature films for less than 1000 CZK, and how Noam Chomsky, Liv Ullmann and the architecture of a small town housing development relate to one another. Or about the democratisation of the possibility to tell stories any time and about anything, in the form of video or text. The personal and the political in hands of a graphomaniac.
Jan Smutný studied psychology and gender studies at Masaryk University, and in tge Performance department of the Faculty of Fine Arts in Brno. He currently lives and works in Prague. He is interested primarily in literary work. His debut novel “Hmotný bod / Tangible Point” was published October 2013. In his work he mixes the obligatory low to high, personal with public, and through narrative clichés, he tries to reduce art history from the sphere of institutionalised clouds to the private sphere.
