utterance: legislation interpretation
interpreting the legislation loophole that enables the car to slip out from under control of both British and Czech legislation
Vladimír Škuta, executive producer of the project
from the case study collection
case study
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Project Case Study is a circular economical machine that employed one automobile Rover 75 made by a now non-existent british car manufacturer and group of fans of this car in Czech republic in a closed economic loop that has yielded aesthetic by-products that have in the end been exhibited in a gallery space.
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The starting point was a sum of money acquired from being awarded Jindřich Chalupecký Award, grant that was open for any use. A used Rover 75 car was bought and brought from Britain to Czech Republic. Through a loophole in Czech legislation, the car has become non-existent and therefore its fate was open to be used in a spectacle of dismantling it and for voluntary donations being sold out to fans and owners of this car in Czech Republic. Due to being different for having a steering wheel on the right side it could only maintain a sort of "refugee" status in Czech Republic for one year and could not be used after this period for not being eligible to pass the technical test.
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After the demise of the Rover company, a British industry flagship, prices of its products had begun to drop for the fear of lack of spare parts. This has started a wave of personal export notably by polish and czech workers in UK. This way a community of fans of these cars in central Europe had sprung up, with internet sites, regular meetings and specialised services for the fans-owners, by fans-mechanics. A peculiar late nostalgia for the era gone-by had developed in an entirely foreign milieu.
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The project examines characteristics and depth of a relationship of people to an object. It is a space for personal fascination and psychological projection onto an object. The process of acquiring, use and final dismantling of the car becomes a reflected deconstruction. An automobile becomes a stage on which an obscure play of consumer fetish, changes of a european identity, search for psycho-social spare parts for alternative survival is acted out.
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19. 11. - 13. 12. 2009, Václav Špála Gallery
Curated by Jiří Ptáček
Production by Vladimír Škuta
With the support of Saša Dlouhý, Free SaM
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with thanks to all who helped and participated
