15 minutes

Jiří Pitrmuc’s exhibition titled 15 Minutes exhibition at Kostka Gallery explores the phenomenon of time — particularly time as it relates intimately to our existence, bounded and finite, defining the length of a human life. To make practical use of this limited resource, we divide it into smaller units that suit our daily needs. In his installation at Kostka Gallery, the artist splits the space into four separate quadrants, each allowing visitors to view only one painting at a time. If we attempt to see the other works at the same time, however, we are thwarted at the very center of the installation with a gigantic umbrella hanging overhead. It resembles a massive dome divided into twelve segments, reminiscent of the face of a clock. Each segment of the umbrella symbolizes a five-minute interval, while below it, the exhibition space is symbolically divided into four fifteen-minute segments. This segmentation—this process of portioning, halving, or quartering—carves out smaller parts from a whole. The artist adopts it as a unique metric by which we can delineate what is difficult to grasp rationally, yet we feel compelled to engage with it in one way or another. The umbrella as a metaphor recurs repeatedly in Pitrmuc’s work. An object that naturally serves as a protection from the elements becomes an archetypal, time-frozen symbol, one that can effortlessly transform into an unanticipated actor in grotesque situations. A certain childlike directness and the hypothetical possibility of these comical scenarios—whether involving an umbrella, an old locomotive, or a rusty washing machine drum—nevertheless hide a peculiar blend of humor, seriousness, and something intangible that, as viewers, we strive in vain to uncover. In any case, Jiří Pitrmuc’s magical umbrella becomes a place where fifteen minutes might be just around the corner. Or perhaps not.