1 ) It is good and very exciting to take the liberty, with humility however, of observing and approaching images at the moment of their genesis, to try and at least a few times during one's lifetime to capture those seemingly perfect ones, those we want to see, those we already know and which occasionally, but to an increasingly lesser degree do surface from everyday situatons. To behold, if only for a moment, even the less than perfect ones can be enriching, just as we draw from images that have been encountered and rescued by others, provided we have been ollowed to peer into them. They then live on with us, can become our nourishment, we can rely on them, commune with them, they heal and never disappoint. I hope - that this origination against their will, the fact that they often signify what they did not intend to, or all that which their advent illuminates in the intricate labyrinths of our hearts - does not pain them. I olso often recollect The situations which have escaped, some thing, just some tiny something was missing and they could have come into being, they did not turn into images, or where not everything stopped all at once... It is these situatians:
"when everything suddenly falls silent for a moment,
as in places where birds do not sing,
where something, here or somewhere around us, yet
still quivers, ever so slightly trembling..." ...2)
that images emerge from, where time has momentum, and which will sparkle for a long time after they have ceased to exist. Tell me, how long the train's been gone? Was it really, really nice? Does beauty rest in the eyes of the beholder? Is truth if it exists, as intticate and hidden and as a crown of feathers? Similar questions may once have been posed by pensive mortals, searching for even the debris of images of their era a long time ago when the dassics were still alive. Fortunately they were not born later, otherwise they would have left us neither means to examine our conscience nor spells of eternal beauty and power.
3)... looking is not always free from injury. Do we continuolly need new images if they are not better then those we have alreody set our eyes on in the past and have possessed for a long time? Are we able to dispose of those that our inshnct has rejected in time, if we sense they do not belong to us? It is ever more difficult to go on looking without being reminded of something. Unfortunately, more often then not-of something better. I have an exercise: in the beginning there was a word, it seemed enough, then: It was late evening first of may - a may evening - it was the time of love - but look past the iambus - a little further to the lake - where the voice of the turtledove called to love - where the scent of pinegrove was fragrant...,8) and now, one of ours:
Once there were times, yes, there were,
but they have passed away,
and in a little while we also may,
and when we have passed, the landscape will as well,
as if the top of the rosemary had fallen away...9)
and one more:
A tree is bouncing against another one,
a bird flies inbetween... from other one to one,
not unlike our love seems to be...9)
What we have just seen is the garden of paradise and this view may only ever be surpassed by entering the garden itself... This is what we should cleanse our minds with every day We should not lend these images to anyone. Especially not the oldest, they may vanish, become irretrievable, never to return. We would then become empty vessels and the mulzimedia would slurp us up in an instant... and to see, from then on only the emperor's new clothes?... then, Mr.Gottlieb nothing would help us any more, no holy water, not even the shem...4)... there would be no one to be helped... Mr.Gottleb don't jump out of the window, you live on the ground floor! Rilke already made similar observations and as you know: there have only been two wars since, then the communists, then the former ones, then bollševník,5) clothes with inscriptions on them, baseball caps and now multimedia - but there was and always will be the sparkle in the eyes of the beloved... let's wait a little and before it all posses away, you can join me:
…let God be praised that I was born,
that I could enjoy the days of my youth,
those were the only ones I had in this world,
now they are gone, there are no others to be had.
0 man, be ware, you are nothing but ashes and mud,
when you come to be judged by the Lord of Lords
no excuse will help you...9)
1) Extracts from The book "Images and words" by T.S. Gottlieb, based on interviews with V.Dukat, publication being prepared by Lucid Publishing Houses, Brno.
2) Extracts from a poem by T.S. Gottlieb "Dancing rays," from the collection "Quiet friendships," published by M.Kalish, N.Y.C. 1974
3) Fragments from correspondence between V.Dukat & T.S. Gottlieb
4) The magic substance which can resuscitate the Golem
5) Hogweed
6) Texts 1 ) till 3) concerning V.Dukat in this catologue were translated by V.Dukat, (Brno) in collaboration with J.E. Keat (Cambridge/Brno). The original texts and their translation are protected under the copyright law.
7) The texts mentioned under 1 ) ond 3) have been used with the permission of the copyright owner V.Dukat, (The Hague), NL/(Brno), Moravia, CZ and the poem 2) with the permission of T.S. Gottlieb, (N.Y.C) - USA.
8) Extract from a poem by K.H. Mácha - Máj
9) Extracts from Moravian folk songs.
Translated by V.Dukát, final reading by J.E. Keat.
Sponsored by: Apro H.W. a.s. - Praha, CZ ¶ Olympus - USA, Mr.Kouchi, 1977 ¶ Panasonic NL - Haagtechno.Bv Mr.vd.Vliet, 1989 ¶ Leica GmbH. - BRD Mr.u.Zydowitz 1989 ¶ Nizozemský fond pro umění, Amsterdam, NL ¶ Stich. Stroom-den Haag, NL ¶ Auto Benze - Luanda, Angolo, Afrika ¶ Auto Benze - Mr.Martines + Mr.Victor, Agueda, Portugalsko ¶ Fab. Alfredo Tavares - Canas, Paredes. Agueda, Portugalsko ¶ Tatra a.s. - Kopřivnice, Morava, CZ ¶ Silicon Graphics - Brno, CZ ¶ J.Dohnal - Rekonstrukce hist. vozidel - Hajany u Brna, CZ ¶ Moravská vína t.s. - Bořetice u Velkých Pavlovic, CZ ¶ Marco Kalish Daimonds - N.Y.C. NY. USA ¶ Mocron - Praha, CZ ¶ Axiom, s.r.o. - Zlín, CZ ¶ Miro - Braunschweig, SRN ¶ Exac - Praha, CZ ¶ A & A - Brno, CZ ¶ Caff pre-press - Brno, CZ Vojta Dukát, born 1947 in Brno. 1968 left for Holland. Studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam 1968-71 - photography, at the Film Academy in Amsterdam 1970-71 - film camra. Has exhibited since 1971 - photography. Taught (ad hoc) in Indonesia, Holland, USA, Israel, Czech Republic (Brno and Prague). 1974 and 1976, nominated phorographer by Magnum. Since 1990, lives in Brno and The Hague.