December 2005
The etc gallery is a small oblong space. On the two longer walls, at a height of 180 cm we fixed black signs carved out of chipboard, reading "Rafani". On the front wall we installed a black logo at the same height. The size of the signs was chosen so as to transect the wall from side to side. The size of the logo was derived from the size of the signs. The logo and the signs were indented 10 cm from the wall.
Below this line, on the bottom part of the wall, we fixed six colouring books that we designed. Their upper margins reached up to 150 cm at most. The chosen drawing technique included among others the use of wide black lines, simplified shapes, and slightly caricatured stylization - it resembled the usual concept and appearance of colouring books.
We laid a thick carpet on the floor of the gallery.
The day before the opening, we invited a class of first-year pupils from a nearby school. They sent 15 children and two supervising teachers. In the beginning we read our speeches to the children and we handed out paints, crayons and other colouring tools. Then we challenged them to start colouring. We didn't tell them how to proceed, nor did we give them any kind of instructions, we just let them deal with it independently. The children spent three hours colouring. The teachers kept an eye on them, helped them sharpen the crayons, and refilled their cups with water. At the end of their work, we thanked the children and their teachers and we handed out some small treats.
We kept the mess on the floor of the gallery as part of the exhibition.
Before the opening we completed the exhibition with a projection of the colouring process on the gallery window. We launched the exhibition with a speech.
The speech for the children:
Dear children,
Contour is a multivalent thing. Contour is, in a way, a pattern. You can fill it in, you can erase it or smear it, but you can also refuse it. However, it is always good to explore where the form comes from - what it delineates, what its meaning is - and only then decide about the technique and colours to use.
The contour was already here when you arrived. It would still have been here, even if other children came in your place. It is simply here.
If you are convinced that you agree with the meaning of the picture, try to colour it dutifully. If you think that that the opposite is true, try to express that. Just know that each of your actions here on the wall of the gallery is perceived in its relation to the contour, either inside or outside of it, and the picture you create will represent its final meaning. This will be your expression. Now take the crayons, temperas or watercolours and get down to work.
Speech at the opening ceremony:
Don't be naughty and sit down.
Listen, finally.
You're young, healthy-looking and you're maybe even happy.
You've got everything you need. You can have anything you want.
Are you satisfied?
Look at someone else in your shoes.
Do you think he is satisfied?
Are you still satisfied if everyone around you is as satisfied as you are?
Is it enough for you to be like them?
Or is there anyone who is more satisfied than you, than all of you?
Do you know what self-confidence is?
Someone once told me that there is a remote country where people have no self-confidence at all.
Do you think that life is good in that country?
That country borders on another country, where people are overly self-confident.
Would you like to move to the first or to the second country?
And what is more, there are two more countries lying next to them. In the first one, all people imitate the life of the country where people have no self-confidence; and in the second, they imitate the one where everyone is overly self-confident.
Which country's inhabitants would you find more likeable?
And where would you like to live?
And stop picking your nose.
How would you decide, if you had no other option?
Think about it.
You've got several options.
You can't do that, you're not a bird.
There are deep oceans full of peculiar fish and various vermin, surging with storms, impenetrable and unknown.
Stop fidgeting and pay attention.
And how would you choose if you could grant yourself an exception, and choose another option than those on offer?
Are you getting bored?
Would you still grant yourself the exception next time?
How often would you have to grant it, until it finally ceased to be called an exception?
Never mind, just write this down, it is important, they will teach you this at school.
How do I know?
I learnt it myself and then needed it when I was examined.
Wait, I heard something. What did you ask?
A friend of mine told me.
And he was told by another friend.
And stop asking why.
Ask me any question - how, where, when, what - but don't ask me why.
What did I just tell you?
Are you ready?
Stop picking your nose, this is the second time I've told you.
So?
Far, very far.
Their boundaries lie just a short way beyond any horizon.
I hope they sailed in.
On ships, on barges, on all kinds of rafts.
I ask myself if they were fleeing from something, or just were too proud, too courageous.
They haven't noticed anything yet; they have different worries, apparently.
Well, I don't know about that.
Because. And don't ask why, I have already told you not to.
There is a prophecy, though, that a new generation will arise and its children will unite those countries in one empire of freedom, happiness and responsibility, the empire of clouds, waters and mountains.
© 2007, etc. galerie
Kateřinská 20, Praha 2, Czech Republic / info@etcgalerie.cz
