The Trophies / Set of 3 Objects

ABOUT THE PRODUCT

design: Jakub Berdych Karpelis, 2019

material: glass

dimensions:

The Trophy 1 - 21 x 39 cm

The Trophy 2 - 15 x 35 cm

The Trophy 3 - 21 x 53 cm

If we push aside the splendour of intense feelings and tastes that human nature is wrapped in in the social networking environment, we are faced with the dark underworld of the virtual world; the fear of a world that is overflowing with dubious, yet seriously thought and more seriously taken sludge of sweet hypotheses, which in their depth correspond to the parameters of today's communication - the tweet.
The posts and gentle nudges in a world of programmed emotion and fictional friendship defined by the press of the "accept" button; then the irony of the fallacies arising from these friendships and internet debates are the subject of James', almost semantic, concern with the power and meaning of a word, a slogan or a symbol.
Meanwhile, in a world of ambivalent planes, all messages are subject to doubt, in which all users are forced to constantly search for the meaning and veracity of a password. The phonetic misspelling "boy f rent > boyfrend" on one of the glass vases is related to this. However, similar confusion can occur in the otherwise sterile environment of real life. Completely anonymous numbers and signs on the walls of buildings/roads before revitalisation are only for a small circle of insiders, here from the street art milieu, sometimes for civil engineers. Their mysterious and yet always unmissable appearance makes it pleasant to move through the city and provides the author with a theme for decorating vases and objects with the numerical codes "Matthew 22: 39 > love your neighbor as yourself" based on New Testament numerical markings; the motto thus urges the user to the inherently human reason for the actual use of the vases, at other times confronting them with the inscription "blow job" on a vase with a bouquet of roses, which is nothing more than technical information and indicates that the vase is all but hand-blown.
In addition to the inscriptions, it is worth mentioning a passage from the book, quoted again by the artist, which may be the key to understanding the formal aspect of his current work. "Since the time when every integrative perspective, whether religious, political, social, or psychosocial, began to disappear from the consciousness of people standing at the foot of the atomic and cybernetic age, there has been an all-pervasive disintegration of functional logic; form has taken the place of function" (Vratislav Effenberger: The rawness of life and the cynicism of fantasy, Prague 1975) - in Jakub's case we find strictly simplified, primary bodies or then an ancient model, which is understood as an ideal, independent of content and time. This ideal is in ambivalent yet unexpected agreement with the above-mentioned concern.

ABOUT THE DESIGNER

Jakub Berdych Karpelis is the co-founder of Qubus Studio. Since its inception in 2002, he has focused on conceptual work in traditional Czech materials such as glass and porcelain. He is credited with the brand's expansion beyond the Czech Republic and the creation of a number of works, complete collections and products now significant for the Qubus brand. Among the most famous projects is the reconstruction of the interior of the Church of St. Bartholomew in Chodovice. His works can be seen not only in Czech, but also in world famous galleries and collections such as Moss Gallery New York or Mint Gallery London and others. In addition to conceptual and product design, he also works in the field of interior design, architecture and free art. Since 2008 he has been the art director of the gallery store Dox by Qubus at the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art in Prague.