Zdeněk Pešánek
Born 1896. Died 1965. Sculptor, architect and kinetic artist. Since 1924 member of Devětsil.
Contents
V letech 1914–1917 navštěvoval sochařsko-kamenickou školu v Hořicích u prof. Kociána, 1918–1923 studoval sochařství na Akademii výtvarných umění u Jana Štursy a soukromně architekturu. Ve svých dvaceti šesti letech začal pracovat na svém celoživotním projektu, na programu kinetického umění. Po válce působil v Uměleckoprůmyslovém museu, pokoušel se zde oživit jeho původní smysl, navrhl rekonstrukci podkrovních prostor, přízemí a zahrady pro expoziční a studijní účely. V téže době publikoval také studie o světle a uměleckém průmyslu.
Designed light and kinetic sculptures for architectural settings from department stores to the electricity generating housings in CS in the 1920s and 1930s.
Wrote about electronic machines fulfilling miracles in his book Kinetismus (1941).
Works
- Self-portrait (1921)
- decoration of the Šekový úřad, Brno (1925)
- Colour piano (1928)
A piano creating lighting effects to the music (1000 light bulbs with 238 tones of colour; the light patterns or 'score' corresponded to the perforated rolls of the player-piano and were replaceable), built by Erwin Schulhoff, Petrof company (1928), exhibited in the Czechoslovak pavilion for the International Exhibition in Paris (1937).
- Monument to the Aviators [Pomník letectví] (1926)
- Sto let elektřiny (1930)
- One Hundred Years of Electricity (1932-36)
Kinetic sculpture for Zenger's Edison transformer station in Prague-Klárov. [1]
- Colour Harpsichord (1932)
- Czechoslovak Spa Fountain [Fontána československého lázeňství] (1937)
The work was displayed at the Czechoslovak pavilion at the World’s Fair in Paris in 1937. In the middle of a pool, Pešánek placed one vertical and one horizontal torso made from fiberglass; a long neon bulb protruding from the upper part of each torso curving towards the lower part of the torso in awkward angles accentuated not only the exterior, but simultaneously illuminating the interior. “In addition to neon pipes in two colors, several sections of colored light bulbs ran through the work alternating with white light bulbs. The changing colored light also enriched the play of light through the water beneath the pool.” And the whole work was coordinated to light in rhythmic synchronization with music. Although the public and French press was undoubtedly captivated by such a creation, critics at home considered his work marginal and an “undignified representation” of his native country. Interestingly, Pešánek himself considered this only a study and was faintly disappointed by its completion. He wanted to include an additional set of illuminated jetting columns of water with search lights, but it was never fulfilled for reasons of space. When it was proposed to rebuild this fountain somewhere in Prague, a site was selected; however, the fateful year of 1938 came and the realization of this piece could never be fulfilled. [2]
- The Third Five-Year Plan (1960)
For the exhibition Fifteen Years of the Czechoslovak Republik, Moscow.
Exhibitions
- World's Fair, Paris, 1937.
- Modern Art Collections, National Gallery, Prague, 1996.
- Laterna magika, Paris, 2002–2003.
- The Art of Light, Karlsruhe.
- Rytmy + pohyb + světlo, Pilsen, 2012–2013.
Literature
- Articles and books by Pešánek
- Kinetismus: Kinetika ve výtvarnictví – barevná hudba, Prague: Česká grafická Unie, 1941, 144 pp. (Czech)
- "Bildende Kunst vom Futurismus zur Farben- und Formkinetik (Mit Vorfuehrung eines Farbe-Ton-Klaviers)", in: Georg Anschutz (ed.), Farbe-Ton-Forschungen, Vol. 1, Hamburg: Meissner, 1931, pp. 193-204. (German)
- Books
- Zdeněk Pešánek: 1896-1965, Gema Art, 1999. (Czech) [3]
- Articles
- Jaromír Fiala, "On My Work with the Pioneer of Kinetic Electric Light Art, Zdeněk Pešánek (1896-1965): A Memoire", Leonardo 3 (Summer 1980). [4]
- Anna Chadová, "Petrof, Schulhoff, Pešánek a barevný klavír", Hudební nástroje XXXI, No. 3, Hradec Králové, 1994, pp 146–149. (in Czech)
- Jiří Zemánek, "Zdeněk Pešánek a kinetika světla v českém umění 30.–70. let", in: Ludvík Hlaváček, Marta Smolíková (eds.), Orbis Fictus, Prague: Oswald, 1995, pp 53-67. (in Czech)
- Mahulena Nešlehová, "Impulses of Futurism and Czech Art", in International Futurism in Arts and Literature; Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2000. [5]
- Jiri Zemánek, "Zdenek Pešánek", in: Lanterna magika: New technologies in Czech art of the 20th century, Praha: KANT, 2002.
- Theses
- Ondřej Menšík, [Zdeněk Pešánek: Kinetismus a světelná kinetika], Brno: Masaryk University, 2006, 77 pp. Diploma thesis. (in Czech)
- Jana Matulová, Barevná hudba, Brno: Masaryk University, 2008. Bachelor thesis. (in Czech)
- Kateřina Drajsajtlová, Světelný klavír v uměleckém díle Alexandera Nikolajeviče Skrjabina a Zdeňka Pešánka, Bc thesis, 2012. (in Czech) [6]
