Löblhof & Artgrund: Potvobraz (16th Art Symposium "In the Gardens" of Staňkovice)

This year’s theme for the traditional summer special featuring artistic interventions and landscape installations in the micro-space of the garden and its surroundings in the České středohoří region is Potvobraz.

Every space contains moments that cannot be explained so clearly. These are situations that defy any logical or adequate explanation. Can there be worlds within a world? Can inconspicuous parallel dimensions exist that, by their very nature, remain unclear to us? Is it possible to pass through the gates of worlds without even realizing it? A garden is always a space that serves as a world not only for us but for an entire population of other lives that we often fail to perceive. Potvobraz is a new term for something that lives alongside us in our spaces, though we do not perceive it at first glance. They leave a trace, alter our surroundings, and instill a sense of uncertainty within us. Potvobraz are possible creatures—raraši, micro-beings—that multiply the wildness within humanity. Find the substance, image, shadow, form, word, sentence, color, scent, breath, musk, odor, voice, or trace of a potvobraz… anything.

The summer symposia have been an integral part of the rural landscape for more than sixteen years. They also offer an opportunity in the middle of summer to come and daydream about the solitude of the existence of something intangible. The symposium is a multidisciplinary form of artistic endeavor and a way of perceiving reality through tradition or place. Staňkovice is a space, a garden, where the water is good and the horizon is framed by the silhouettes of volcanic vents and volcanoes.