| galerie 690 czk/m² | |
| author: | Jiří Kaňák |
| photo: | Karolina Pethö |
| year: | 2026 |
#3
A series of three prints has been entered into the 690 CZK/m² gallery; they visually evoke the pages of a writing workbook designed for practicing cursive. The motif of repeating the letter “á” refers to the universally shared experience of repetitive writing, in which individual characters are imprinted into muscle memory through the same movement over and over. However, this nostalgic, slightly hazy memory of learning to write is disrupted here by a second layer—the internal tension and struggle involved in the endless repetition of lines, when the duration of the activity itself begins to outweigh its purpose.
This experience is transferred into the work as a subtly ironic yet physically intense trace of frustration stemming from repetitive activity without a wider context. Repetition here transforms into a more general structure of everyday life, in which meaning gradually dissolves and is replaced by rhythm. From this situation can arise a physical need to “scream it out,” reduced to a simple, interjection: “ÁÁÁÁÁÁÁ.”
The ambivalence of the entire situation, however, remains intact: the gesture can come across as oppressive, relieving, or playful. The scream is, in fact, merely written—and it is precisely at the moment of reading that it is activated as a performative act. The viewer is subtly invited to read the text aloud, thereby becoming a temporary co-actor in the work, and their voice joins an imaginary chain of shared experiences of both frustration and release.
Gallery 690 czk/m² is an gallery project by the tamti_architekti studio, established in 2024.
We transformed the three advertising panels surrounding the studio’s window at Vršovická 817/5 in Prague into a contemporary art gallery. Instead of commercial messages, the space serves as a place for regularly rotating exhibitions by contemporary artists. We open each exhibition with a public opening, during which we temporarily activate the surrounding public space in front of the studio. The project explores new ways to utilize advertising media and demonstrates that even such infrastructure can serve culture and enhance public space.