The Phenomenon of Face in Videoart
Catalogue for the exhibition Faces
Exhibition curator / Ladislav Kesner
Texts / Ladislav Kesner, Fiona Tan
Translation / Sabina Pope
Editor / Zuzana Kosařová
Graphic design / Zuzana Lednická, Studio Najbrt
Czech, English
78 pages
ISBN: 978-80-86443-18-8
Print run / 300 copies
Publisher / Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague 2012
The human face has traditionally been one of central themes in visual art, namely in portraiture and self-portraiture. The advent of the moving picture – first came film, later videoart – in the 20th century opened a whole host of new possibilities and dimensions for facial representation.
The exhibition, composed of a selection of seventeen experimental films and video art works and installations from the late 1960´s to the present, focuses on the face as a representational medium. Its aim is to explore complex and multifaceted ways in which face as captured through moving image constructs and communicates personal identity, mental states, and narrative structures. It seeks to open a detailed insight into the mechanisms of facial expression and relationship between the visible expression and invisible mental structures. It thus seeks to show the delicate web of interconnections between the biological and cultural aspects of the face. It should reveal that despite the face having a ubiquitous presence – indeed banality – and being a subject of intense scientific research – it still retains a peculiar mystery.
