Lecture NOVEMBER by Martin Kohout

“Most of art education is focused on bright examples, on how to do and plan things things right. Even failed experiments are evaluated as valuable lessons to make things right next time. And that is not a surprise in a culture with the idea of growth in its centre. In this presentation and discussion, I would like to focus on the rarely spoken about detours, hiccups, or failures that has accompanied the process of making my works, but stayed in the studio. I would like to show how much more indirect making work can be, compared to how it could present itself in the final result. And of course, true to the beforementioned ideology, how productive these experiences can be… Or isn’t it a priviledge to be able to point at a presentable result and say it comes out of a disaster? Or isn’t it another romanticising idea about the ‘natural’ precarity of an artist? And what role does it play in managing the stress of making works under conditions that don’t make it possible to go as imagined? Let’s see and discuss together.” (Text by courtesy of Martin Kohout)

Berlin-based, Czech-born artist Martin Kohout’s early study background is in film (FAMU, Prague) and fine arts (UdK, Berlin and Städelschule, Frankfurt). His work has a strong grounding in research, both academic and qualitative. His practice spans a wide range of medium such as film, sculpture, installation, print, events, and publications. In addition to that he produces music under the name of TOLE and runs the independent publishing house TLTRPreß. In 2017, Martin won the Jindřich Chalupecký Award for young Czech artists. Martin works with Exile in Vienna, Austria, and Polansky Gallery in Prague and Brno, Czech Republic. Martin is also a teaching assistant at The Studio of Photography at AAAD in Prague.

More information on the Martin Kohout Website.