Apparatus 2.0: The Unreliable Library

Artists: Matěj Al-Ali, Keren Benbenisty, Tyler Coburn, David Court, Sean Fader, Kara Hearn, Zebadiah Keneally, Alena Kotzmannová, Tomáš Moravec, Freya Powell, Markéta Othová, Elisabeth Smolarz, Magda Stanová, Tomáš Svoboda, Dannielle Tegeder, Jiří Thýn

Curated by: Tereza Jindrová, Meghana Karnik, Michelle Levy
Special thanks: Pavla Sceranková and Dušan Záhoranský

Presented at the Foundation and Center for Contemporary Art (FCCA) in Prague, Apparatus 2.0: Nespolehlivá knihovna / The Unreliable Library is an exhibition resulting from a multilevel collaboration between artists and organizers from Prague and New York City. Taking place in the reconstructed FCCA library, the exhibition will reflect on how we gather research and build knowledge about culture, and on the library as a space for slow processes of contemplation and discovery. This exhibition expands on its predecessor, Apparatus for a Utopian Image (September 21 – October 29, 2016) at EFA Project Space in New York; initiated by artists Pavla Sceranková and Dušan Zahoranský to encourage a dialogue between artists from Prague and New York City. Apparatus 2.0 deepens the engagement by facilitating long-distance collaborations between the same artists, bringing the New York group to meet their Prague counterparts during opening week. Each working group has been invited to consider their experiences – in different cities, under their respective cultural conditions – to see how these aspects shape the artists understanding of images. Some questions posed by participants are: What sense do we make of a decentralized, unsystematic, and unreliable library? Is art practice an apparatus to distract us from mortality? What does an Eastern-Western diary of the past look like? Is knowledge built (like a tower) or excavated (from a pit)? What is art the solution for?

Related Events

What is Art the Solution For?
Roundtable discussion by Zebaseana / LaTableRonde
Wednesday, May 30, 6 - 8 PM. By invitation only.

She Is Alone
Performance by Michelle Levy
Thursday, May 31, 6 - 8 PM

Apparatus 2.0: The Unreliable Library is co-presented by The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts (EFA) in New York, and Foundation and Center for Contemporary Arts (FCCA) in Prague.

Foundation and Center for Contemporary Arts Prague receives support for their exhibition program from the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, Prague City Council, the State Fund of Culture of the Czech Republic, and the Municipal District of Prague 7. This project is made possible through the generous support of Trust for Mutual Understanding. Special thanks: Petrohradská kolektiv. Media support: ArtMap, jlbjlt.net and UMA: You Make Art.