Hynek Chmelař

Hynek Chmelař’s project is in the form of an exploratory mission which, however, gives the impression of something inappropriate and lost due to the nature of the research, the environment and, ultimately, the lack of technological sophistication. The central actor of the project is a space-probe-like object that moves uncertainly over the urban landscape of Ostrava, including its locally specific areas such as slag heaps, sludge lagoons, etc. The space-probe motif is used here by the artist as a generally understandable symbol of human endeavour to transcend the boundaries of our planet, as an embodiment of the utopian desires to overcome barriers and discover the possibilities and conditions beyond our imagination in order to know ourselves in an indirect way. The human need to migrate is a characteristic of our species; our entire history is shaped by events caused by migratory waves. This issue is still relevant, yet politically delicate. In a sense, the migration of people from war-stricken areas where it is impossible to live with dignity is similar to the efforts of the so-called civilised part of the world to colonise the solar system, i.e. to secure an escape route to flee from the spreading destruction of the planet. The artist considers this Sisyphean desire of humankind to know and colonise at least part of the universe to be fascinating. But not primarily for its purpose, but because it helps him realise how greatly this world “being conquered” transcends us. This gargantuan task is what our (probably) best scientists and engineers attempt to accomplish with the help of frail wheeled carts, making them drill a few inches below the surface of a planet (for example, Mars) to derive the essence of the entire planet. Chmelař certainly does not want to ridicule these efforts. Rather, he aims to point to the apparent contradiction between ambition and resources spent. To express the absurdity, but also the infinite touchingness of these efforts to know the history of the universe with the help of a radio and drill No. 10. He tries to drill somewhere in order to capture the landscape around him but, at first glance, it is clear that it almost certainly makes no sense. One more question arises as to what will happen to the space probe when its mission has ended. Like all state-of-the-art technology and results of engineering sent into space, this rover does not have a return ticket. Once it has fulfilled its purpose, it will remain at the mercy of a hostile and alien environment, disappearing sadly and forlornly in gusts of wind. The project is part of the artist’s larger, albeit fully unimplemented, artistic-literary series entitled “Home Is Where We Want to Get Out Of, But People Are Equally Beautiful Everywhere”.