The name of Max Máslo’s exhibition reflects the difficulty of following up on communist thinking. To sincerely contemplate it is impossible and to ironically look back at the past leads nowhere. The effort to find a solution does not, however, die with it. The graph showcasing new and old honesty is a proof that even though Max Máslo is serious in his thinking, he keeps a certain distance as well. His age also indicates he did not experience communism which also entails a certain element of alienation.
The installation includes three videos. Video collages from period agitprop (agitation + propaganda) films are permeated by two recordings of present-day performative events. The first captures a dreamlike contemplation about a golf course excavation during a field excavation and the second one takes place during the 30th anniversary celebration of the Velvet Revolution. In the second event the author took on a role and a costume of an SNB (National Security Corps) actor and alongside three other people acted out performative raids during the official celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. It was not clear during the event whether the group of performers was a part of the scheduled program or whether it was a separate immersive act put on by the performers. The uncertainty aroused ambivalent responses which bordered on aggression and a clash with the police. Due to the uniforms, the police were, ironically so, on the side of the performers.
One of the dominant elements of the installation is a five-pointed star from golf clubs and a large wallpaper of a Google Maps photograph capturing a mini concrete high-rise building probably made out of residual materials from a nearby housing project. The view of this tiny torso is intensified by the hazy shadow casted by a profile of V. I. Lenin behind a window and a nostalgic sound track evoking the past communist era. The politically agitating dimension of the exhibition is present in the edited compilation of films Botostroj (Giant Shoe-Factory), Štika v rybníce (The Pike in a Fish Pond) and Slovo dělá ženu (A Woman as Good as Her Word).
