Nela Bártová – Ohrwurm
Gallery 3 / 20. 3. — 1. 6. 2024
Artist: Nela Bártová
Curator: Adéla Machová
The composition ohrwurm by multimedia artist Nela Bártová reflects the environment of the spa town of Karlovy Vary. Bubbling springs and thermal springs – a typical and essentially unique soundscape was captured by the artist during her artist residency (project Essence of Place / Karlovy Vary, September 2023). As with her other sound works, she focuses primarily on deepening the experience of the visit to the place. She is interested in the moment of concentrated perception, in this case of an urban environment that is co-defined by a natural element, thermal water.
In order to capture this unique environment, the author used an improvised hydrophone to record the sounds of water and a geophone (a contact microphone that senses vibrations in the ground). She composed both recordings into the presented composition and accompanied the sound installation with the author’s poetic texts. Personally, I consider this installation for Gallery 3 as a metaphorical illustration of an intimate experience. The artist herself says: “If we are sensitive enough to our environment, we become more sensitive to it. If I listen to the sound of the ground I walk on, I might become more sensitive to it.”
Nela Bártová (*1998, Opava) graduated in Sculpture at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Brno University of Technology and now continues her studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. She (neli vanilli) occasionally mixes carousel techno, but also ambient sounds. Text is an integral part of her work – she has been published on several literary websites and anthologies, and her debut collection At the End of the Corridor It’s Morning was published by Bílý Vigvam in 2021 (nomination for the Magnesia Litera Award in the debut of the year category). In her works, Bártová deals with issues related to a person in relation to nature and his functioning in the current world. Throughout her work there are elements of collage, which she uses in various forms, especially in the combination of media she works with. Her hobbies are sleeping and walking.
Texts: Nela Bártová (CV) & Adéla Machová
Graphic design: Lena Sára Grochowiecová
