Markéta Othová – Coming Soon

#1 min Markéta Kinterová

5. 12. 2023

#45 HypertensionPhotobooksCurating

Somewhat late but it is still necessary to draw attention to Markéta Othová's book-catalogue for her earlier retrospective. Why? Because I find it exceptional how Markéta Othová is able to dilute the boundaries between what is and what is not a catalogue, between what is and what is not an exhibition or an exhibition model, and between what is a photographic installation and what is photography itself. She usually presents these disconcertions in a very calm, quiet and crystal clear manner, which, in addition to her precise and sometimes research-archival work, does not lack the offer of various emotions of a rather undramatic nature. The author's ability to blur the aforementioned categories has long been a part of her artistic signature, and in a way, it culminates in this publication. I certainly recommend it to all sensitive individuals, lovers and admirers of Othovás's work, and even potential detractors, to purchase, study and carefully preserve because, in addition to the aesthetic qualities with which the work abounds, it contains a number of texts that are not just the necessary theoretical filler of a catalogue of sorts but a true unfolding of multi-layered reflections. 

 

Markéta Othová, Coming Soon, Prague: Národní galerie, 2023

#45 HypertensionPhotobooksCuratingMaterialityArchiveInstitutional critiqueInstallationAuthor's reviewHypertension

Markéta Kinterová

is the artistic director of Fotograf.zone and the editor-in-chief of the online magazine Fotograf. Her practice focuses on artistic research related to public space. She teaches at the Department of Photography at FAMU, Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.

#45 Hypertension

Feelings of hypertension, a hyper-tense body, hypertension of the heart, hypertensive impulses, hypertensive images, hypertensive stimuli, hypertensive behavior, hypertensive individuals, hypertensive situations, hypertensive information flows, hypertensive media, a hypertensive flow of notifications. Is your blood pressure still the same? Is it rising? All fine? Are you feeling okay? Elevated blood pressure, or hypertension, is a metaphor for the question of the new virtual “I” and the changeability of a newly formed identity, the theme of this year’s Fotograf Festival, hypertension23, and also of this issue, which this time breaks away from the usual concept due to the connection to the festival, bringing a more concrete form, more akin to a catalogue.

Tourism

#2 min Markéta Kinterová

Tourism

#46 TourismEditorialHistory

It is interesting how much the world of photography is connected with tourism, in other words, how much the two domains may have in common. If we look at them through the lens of a mass phenomenon, they may even be similarly old. And it is in this perspective that a number of controversial questions arise in all their clarity. To what extent has tourism affected many of the coastlines and unique destinations that attract tourists? And to what extent does photography influence our perception of the places we visit?