Jiri Machalicky interviews Roman Franta

Are you ever inspired by literature?

I don't take inspiration from specific literary stories because my works rather deal with relationships among people, with human nature and character, their actions and behaviour. But I sometimes take down interesting observations, lines and quotations, which I collect and occasionally use in my collages and photographs. The result can be surprisingly humorous, slightly ironic, even cynical at times.

Who of your generation is close to you?

My wife.

Are there any Czech or foreign artists with whom you would like to exhibit?

What I am interested in is work surpassing the usual cliché, original ideas, an individual style. Such artists are attractive to me.

Have you ever had any models?

I have never had any models; rather, I admired certain qualities and abilities of interesting people I knew - in my family, sports, arts, or life in general.

What does tradition mean to you?

Nothing at all; for me, the word kind of trips over the threshold of the past era. I remember a line from the play Audience by Vaclav Havel, in which he was rolling the barrels in a brewery: "...it's a sort of a tradition here." Unconsciously, every man carries some roots and tradition in him, but returning to tradition on purpose would be like toting a weight or walking backwards.

Do you follow up on any personalities and values from the past?

I don't follow up on anyone or anything, maybe just unconsciously.

Are the ties to national or rather local culture, the environment in which you were born and where you live, important for you?

It's not ties, but rather an inspiration drawn from the familiar environment.

Do you think that it is easier for Czech artists to succeed today compared to the past?

Locally, contemporary Czech artists achieve quite naturally. For the most part, if an artist is good, makes interesting things and has a lot to show, people know about him. The question is: where do you exhibit your work when many good galleries have gone under? Once again, artists are starting to use alternative spaces. But to make it abroad with Czech art is highly complicated, to say the least. First of all, there is not enough money. A Czech artist would have to live and work abroad. Hopefully, this will improve with the opening of the EU.

Are you close to symbolism and its legacy?

If you wereto go by a dictionary definition of symbolism, yes, I am close to it. But, in reality, I don't think I am; a bug is an artistic means for me, as a figure, colour or structure is for others. Symbolism is not so allegorical and dominant in my paintings.

What other things would you like to express using bugs as symbols? Do you sometimes feel your hands are tied by that choice?

I don't ask myself this question at all. My next topic may emerge while I am painting, it may be a reaction to my previous work, or just an inspiration from the outside world, which is abundant. The thing is you have to choose the right idea, react to what is substantial. Artists differ in what they consider substantial. We have different motivations and we use different artistic means to put them to life. I don't express myself solely by means of bugs, I also have other paintings, which I just don't exhibit that often. That is why I don't feel caught up in the "bug world"; on the

contrary, I have taken a conceptual approach to it. I also take photographs and make collages, small-scale installations and objects.

Do you think that art should be socially or politically involved? And if so, can it be timeless?

That's an interesting question. Art has always been socially or politically involved. At present, political art is often scrutinised because of the overall international situation, terrorism, the state of the European Union, dictatorships in some countries, etc. It is natural that art primarily responds to current situations. Some visions can be materialized by means of new computer software and animation. It is always a question to what extent such art surpasses its time and whether or not it provokes thought.

What is more important for you – the form, or the content?

The content comes first, then you look for an appropriate form. In painting as well as in some other areas, form and content go hand in hand, they are correlated. Generally speaking, you find an adequate form to fit certain content. Strong content can be undermined by inappropriate painting. Also, there are situations when unexpected content may emerge from a painting; that is what makes painting so exciting. When I glue two photographs together to make collages, new contents spring up.

Do you think that contemporary art is perhaps distancing itself from the spectators, becoming more and more unintelligible to them?

Certainly, it is more unintelligible – as is the present-day world. An artist draws inspiration from various areas, works with the Internet, with information which he then processes through all sorts of new artistic media. Or, to defy all this intricacy, he can use a wholly ordinary item as an artistic means of expression, presenting it as a work of art. The boundaries of art are being pushed to the extreme, and we frequently encounter the question: "Is this still art?"

What is your view of the role of curators? Do they at all influence art, and if so, is their influence positive or negative?

That is a very intricate and disputable question. There is not a simple answer to it. Just as it is influenced by various fields of human activity, art is also influenced by curators. This is particularly true about group exhibitions and large-scale art exhibitions. Essentially, these are curator projects, with the curator finding artists for their idea and selecting already completed work. This I would see as positive, and very demanding, too. Sometimes, the curator has artists tailor their work to his or her projects, which is a curator's act rather than an artist's feat, making the artist become a workman. Or the curator joins forces with the artist. Anyway, curators definitely influence the developments in arts because these projects hold the glass mirror to artists. They make you think about contemporary art, which is positive. Everything depends on how an artist deals with this phenomenon in his or her work.

In your opinion, what is the quality of present-day critics? Does it correspond to the standard of present-day art production?

The quality of the critics is still rather varied, but it has improved. Some reviews I enjoy reading, they offer interesting observations and experiences, and sometimes they even reveal surprising links to other fields that even the artist may not have been aware of. On the other hand, there are critics with whom I can guess in advance how the review will unfold and that it may even be tendentious.

Do you see the increasing crossing of boundaries between various cultural and artistic fields as a contribution? I mean the intermingling of literature, fine arts, film, video, dance, and others?

Art is certainly richer for it. If the intermingling comes naturally to the artist as he matures and he uses the new media as a tool to express an idea better and more precisely, then I would think it is a contribution. But if someone does it only because it is "in" at the moment, it is virtually useless in terms of development.

What do you get from your working with students? Does it influence your work?

It is interesting to watch people having a different approach to fine arts, which is what happens at schools. A school is primarily about communication, both among students and between students and teachers. I don't think being wrapped up in oneself and not communicating is good. Contemporary art and thinking is different than at the beginning of the past century. It has many levels, it is concerned with a great deal of social, political as well as artistic issues. We discuss these with our students and try to share our experience. We take them to galleries and museums, both in the Czech Republic and abroad, so they can expand their knowledge and are better equipped to see things in context. Both sides benefit from this, and it can certainly influence one's work.

 

Prague, July 2005