Libor Lípa

born: 12. 9. 1963
graduate: SUPŠ Brno
address: Jindřicha Plachty 19, 150 00  Praha 5
e-mail: lipaart@seznam.cz
http://www.lipaart.cz

Author also in 1994 and 2003.

A REFLECTION ON THE THEORY OF RELATIVITY OF TIME, EGOISM AND THE SELF
(Almost an open letter)

If we speculate that time exists as long as matter exists and man can percieve it, does percieve it and, also, last but not least, measures it, we find ourselves on the path of reasoning. Matter is susceptible to decay in the course of passing time. The man has been functioning on this basis for millions of years in the very same way and the possibilities of learning make his life longer, or vice versa.
Passing time makes the man grow old – it decomposes him. If the man then devotes certain time to his work, say a work of art, he in fact gives it himself. The more time, the bigger piece of himself. The bigger piece of himself he gives to the work, the more can he understand the time that stopped if he really starts with the nature and draws on it. A painter or a sculptor who has just finished his work, continually continues in the process of ageing or decay due to the passing of time. But a work of art – and by that I mean the contents and the form of a painting, for example – stops in time. And there is art that is created in real time, and yet can be not only contemporary but also old, as well as timeless. It in fact runs ahead of time. And the viewer, before he can find some kind of understanding of it or relation to it in real time, grows old. Can we therefore rewind, follow or accelerate time? As far as reason is concerned, we surely can. I have a feeling that an artists working surrounded by nature and if he really wants to stem out of it, he doesn’t accelerate the time of the work itself so much if he gives it much more of himself and if creates a synthesis of this period, that is time, which he devoted to it. The work itself then has a more real time and shape; in other words, it finds itself in some sort of human pre-ignition. On the contrary, he who is not tied to any form to nature seems to create a work less committed and so accelerated that the creator himself must often devote a lot of time, and therefore himself as well, to understand his own work. In many cases, real time is only taken away from others rather then the viewer given an opportunity to develop intellectually in possible timelessness. That’s why the so-called loss of time is sometimes mentioned here. A creation of egoism – it usually takes rather than gives even though the individual often devotes a lost of his or her real time.
The MAS has been here for seven years. For me, it has been eight years of organizational, spiritual and partly artistic work. I hope things have been given their order, at least fundamental one. Much needs to be changed and refined. I will be around and if my advice is needed, I won’t turn my back.
Kant used to say that time and space have the same nature and appearance. But time passes, I’m growing older and I would now like to give more to my work which I love. Because I sometimes have a feeling that I’m being called an egoist

Thanks for everything.
Your (former) Guarantee

Note: After about two hours passed after the writing of this text, my wife came back from work at school with the following story. She asked the children to create a sentence with the ETERNITY in it. M.K, fifth grade of the special school, wrote: I HAVE THE PEACE OF ETERNAL TIME. Unbelievable.

P. S. When you hold this MAS "dílna" 2000 catalogue in your hands, it will be 2001 – the first year of the new millennium. Please accept this catalogue also as a wish of good life from all in Mikulov.

Libor Lípa, curator of MAS "dílna" '00
In Mikulov, 19^th October 2000

Mikulov Art Symposium 2000

July 22^th - Agust 26^th, 2000

• Facts
• Theoretician of the Year
• MAS Partners
• List of Works
• Photostory
• They wrote about this year's "dílna"
• Catalogue (pdf)