István Csákány (HU): Monument for Monument (permanent sculpture project)

istvan_csakany_monument8Istvan Csakany: Monument pre monumentistvan_csakany_monument12
August 22, 2008

Rondel, one of Zilina´s largest roundabouts on pillars has been built in the 80s under socialist government. At the same time they have built huge street lights along this roundabout and connected streets. The roundabout is still in use and directing traffic into and out of the city. But the huge street lights that should light up this monumental and ambitious construction were never able to fulfill their task. Nevertheless the lights stayed, without having any function.

The declaration of the whole construction as monument and the revitalization of the street lights were the basic ideas of Istvan Csakany’s sculpture project. The artist placed a sculpture on the top of the street light closest to Stanica cultural centre, in the middle of the roundabout. The sculpture shows a realistic portrait of an average man, the artist himself. The figure holds in his two hands covered by working gloves a solar panel above his head. This panel collects during daytime the energy to light via the lights fixed to the bottom of the panel the figure by night.

The sculpture serves as prosthesis for the light; it enables the light - in an indirect way - to spread light. The sculpture itself as well starts a dialogue with the sculptural conventions and ideologies of socialism. Instead of the pathos and the monumental worker - peasant figure of socialist art, the sculpture shows an average man, who looks rather small and solitude. He is civil and seems to consider his heroic gesture more as task or work, than as something that changes the world. But anyhow his efforts remain individual; we can say self-reflective, because at the end he is only able to light up himself.

Many thanks for collaboration and support to Matus Psenko, Juraj Mucha, Richard Minarik, Laszlo Letel, Dusan Kujan, Beatrix Szorenyi, Visegrad Fund, City of Zilina, Central European Foundation and SLOVNAFT, Ministry of Culture of Slovakia and sponsors Ekosolar.sk, LedTechz.eu, Helios Slovakia and Duvoks.

www.csakanyistvan.hu

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