2011, workshop
Trenčianske Teplice, a little spa town, has been a sleepy hollow for many years. Bored melancholy of half-empty spa buildings is traditionally with the same frequency for a week replaced by a film festival. During these few days the town returnes back to days of its ancient glory of a former centre of recretion of social and political elite. The strong nostalgic spirit of the place served as a point of departure for the workshop Abandoned Recreation organised by an artist Andrea Kalinová. During „ArtFilm“ week, together with another nine artists, they created site-specific interventions which destroyed a well-run apathy of Trenčianske Teplice. Abandoned sanitaria and recreation places gradually deteriorating in front of the sight of the local residents and visitors were animated by means of inconspicuous almost ephemeral interventions by participants of the workshop. Their play with the urban space, its history and symbols or manipulation of the viewer were
interconnected by one idea – to activate and elicit the interest in seemingly useless and forgotten locations of Trenčianske Teplice. Works unique in terms of time and place exceed the bordes of a spa town and emotionally resemble abandoned recreation places of every town in Slovakia.
Trenčianske Teplice, a little spa town, has been a sleepy hollow for many years. Bored melancholy of half-empty spa buildings is traditionally with the same frequency for a week replaced by a film festival. During these few days the town returnes back to days of its ancient glory of a former centre of recretion of social and political elite. The strong nostalgic spirit of the place served as a point of departure for the workshop Abandoned Recreation organised by an artist Andrea Kalinová. During „ArtFilm“ week, together with another nine artists, they created site-specific interventions which destroyed a well-run apathy of Trenčianske Teplice. Abandoned sanitaria and recreation places gradually deteriorating in front of the sight of the local residents and visitors were animated by means of inconspicuous almost ephemeral interventions by participants of the workshop. Their play with the urban space, its history and symbols or manipulation of the viewer were
interconnected by one idea – to activate and elicit the interest in seemingly useless and forgotten locations of Trenčianske Teplice. Works unique in terms of time and place exceed the bordes of a spa town and emotionally resemble abandoned recreation places of every town in Slovakia.
Peter Szalay
