Alfred University MFA Solo Exhibition

April 8 - 11 | 2023

 

Robert C. Turner Gallery

School of Art and Design

Alfred University

 

I was born and raised in former Czechoslovakia. Having had the experience of living in a totalitarian regime, I see aspects of its grip resurfacing again in the present world, but on a global scale. The apprehension of the possible things to come is reflected in my artwork as it addresses deeper political and existential topics, ridiculous scientific advances, irrational situations, logical inconsistencies and paradoxes of our memory. I am an observer who collects and reflects on these absurdities, I stand in for the individual human and often highlight it with humor.

Hedonic Cupids

Alfred University MFA Solo Exhibition

April 8 - 11 | 2023

 
Robert C. Turner Gallery

School of Art and Design

Alfred University

 

The title alludes to the story of rape and death of a Roman noble woman Lucretia, who chose suicide over the shame from disgrace, concluding that some kinds of injustice cannot be reconciled. The character of Lucretia is not uncommon in history painting, literature and film, this rendition however is an attempt to transcend the stereotypical male/female paradigm and focus on a more general masculine and feminine aspect of society and the consequence of their imbalance. At the same time, the artwork discusses the role of technology and programming, the modern day strive for quantification and meaningfulness of every action and impulse, leaving little space for gradually displaced chance and mystery, plunging the world into a new kind of technocratic and ideological tyranny. It combines a terrifying heartlessness of the (Ridley Scott’s 1979 _Alien_) antagonistic android Nash’s machine program, which controls the supply of oxygen and rules over life and death, and the viewer’s guilt of a voyeuristic observer in Duchamp’s _Étant donnés_, making the viewer an absurd accomplice. The act of rape or suicide is suggested here as an action without catharsis, repeating ad infinitum, a visual representation of Limbo in Dante Alighieri's _Divine Comedy_, forever yearning for salvation.

(Perpetual) Death of Lucretia

Alfred University MFA Solo Exhibition

April 8 - 11 | 2023

 

Robert C. Turner Gallery

School of Art and Design

Alfred University

 

Time based installation with reconstructed observatory gearbox, corn syrup and food dye. The arm moves counter clockwise and together with the liquid supplied in fifteen minute intervals completes one full rotation in about twelve hours. The big black dripping circle is a reference to Saturn, the Sun of Night, and the cycle of life.

Night is a Day That Fell Short

Alfred University MFA Solo Exhibition

April 8 - 11 | 2023

 

Robert C. Turner Gallery

School of Art and Design

Alfred University

 

I was born and raised in former Czechoslovakia. Having had the experience of living in a totalitarian regime, I see aspects of its grip resurfacing again in the present world, but on a global scale. The apprehension of the possible things to come is reflected in my artwork as it addresses deeper political and existential topics, ridiculous scientific advances, irrational situations, logical inconsistencies and paradoxes of our memory. I am an observer who collects and reflects on these absurdities, I stand in for the individual human and often highlight it with humor.

You Brought Something Into The World That Does Not Belong Here

In a darkened room with a few spotlights, the _Rain Machine_ is suspended from the ceiling on two stainless steel wires, motionless at first. The installation occupies space of approximately 40 inches wide, 80 inches tall and about seven feet deep. One might even say it does not exist without this room. One part of a sash window with its top frame finished in a circular shape, the outside painted dark brown, the inside white. In the right corner, a car windshield wiper is attached and appears functional. The other corner of the outside window face has a system of corroded copper tubing attached, completed with a nozzle from a car windshield pump. In the middle of the window is a white painted bar holding a projector. In a circular motion, the projector displays a falling low-fi digital rain. Far back, we see a car battery and a water tank – another part of the connected windshield washing system. Upon detection of movement, the machine responds with an action of the wiper arm and measured, regular supply of liquid, probably water. The wiper arm cleans the window surface and the water drips freely on the ground, creating gradually growing artificial puddles.

  
The digital rain is as fictional as the advertisement for off-world colonies over the Bradbury Building_._ The receding obsolete humans are drinking the nepenthe of slowly approaching death from the coming waves of industrial revolution, bringing robotics and the AI. It is a blend of reality and fiction, homage to Wilhelm Reich’s Cloudbusters, to Alex Jordan’s House on the Rock. Homage to _The Outsider_ in his castle… “a stranger in this century and among those who are still men”. 

Rain Machine

The Morning After

The result of visual sequencing of mathematically divided prime numbers plotted into a diagram.

A series of limited edition prints.

Clusters

A series of limited edition prints loosely based on Franz Mehring's comment on Charles Dickens - the social critic who in his literary works exposed the destitution of the poorest English classes and yet in the last years of his life supposedly suffered from auri sacra fames - the unfortunate hunger for gold.

Auri Sacra Fames - Pursuit Of Happiness 1/2

Auri Sacra Fames - It Was Ours To Begin With 1/2

Auri Sacra Fames - Faith Separation 1/2

Don't Struggle for Air Where it Cannot be Found

Triskel Arts Centre, Cork, Ireland

 Oct 11 – Nov 7 | Nov 22 – Dec 22, 2018

  
Part\`of an evolving two-part exhibition that took place in Triskel Christchurch over the period of three months.

Digital Waste Disposal Site 

Triskel Arts Centre, Cork, Ireland

 Oct 11 – Nov 7 | Nov 22 – Dec 22, 2018

  
Part of an evolving two-part exhibition that took place in Triskel Christchurch over the period of three months.

Marked For Deletion

**Triskel Arts Centre, Cork, Ireland**

 **Oct 11 – Nov 7 | Nov 22 – Dec 22, 2018**

  
_ENDUSER_ \- an evolving two-part exhibition that took place in Triskel Christchurch over the period of three months. This site-specific installation explored the mind-set we, as users, hold towards science and technology and its revolutionary potential that allows us to contest the boundaries of our collective existence traditionally demarcated by the external concept of God. This trend, however, also entails some dark aspects of how we relate to ourselves, one another, and our environment, all of which was the subject matter of the exhibited artwork.

  
The exhibition was produced with support or funding from Triskel Arts Centre, Valerie Gleeson Development Bursary, National Sculpture Factory, Cork City Council Arts Office and The Arts Council of Ireland.

ENDUSER

Using computer 3D software and anamorphism as a perspective distortion, this sculpture is a subtle metaphor on knowledge, rational thinking, power of a human being and St. Columba as the patron of this school. Consisting of five individual standalone shapes and a concrete platform, when not aligned with the vantage point designated in order for the viewer to reconstruct the intended image, the shapes break down into constituent parts forming a visual puzzle.
  
  
Commissioned under the Per Cent for Art Scheme and completed in 2020, the sculpture is located at St. Columba’s BNS Douglas, Cork, Ireland.

Eye of the Future

Winning design for Alfred University Alumni Award. 

  
Conceived as a 3D proposal, thanks to the University facilities, this bronze sculpture underwent a complicated fabrication process from 3D print prototype to rubber mold and wax cast, ceramic shell and bronze cast finished with custom mixed patina reflecting University colors. 

  
Joint project of Alfred University’s Advancement Office, the Alumni Council, and the School of Art and Design (SOAD). The commissioned design will be used for the next five annual Alumni Council award programs. It will be executed in bronze and glass, different for each annual award nominations. Edition of 25.

Alfred University Alumni Award

Anamorphism - individual constituent parts form a desired shape when viewed from a specific vantage point. Artwork produced in 2021 during Alfred University MFA degree study.

Charged with Deception

Exploration of the ambiguity of home as a physical place and home as a state of internal peace, tranquillity and the strive for it. Artwork produced in 2021 during Alfred University MFA degree study.

Long Way From Home

An evolving two-part exhibition which appropriated a former church building to create new synthesized artwork. Presented in Triskel Christchurch, Cork, Ireland over a period of three months (between October and December 2018)

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Tomáš Penc