Extrasensory-Aesthetics Research Working Group

"Extrasensory-Aesthetics Research Working Group has examined the history of Czechoslovak psychotronics and psychoenergetics. The jury appreciates their consistent interest in this specific theme as well as their experimental approach to artistic research. The artists employ mimetic, participative and parascientific methods to create a dematerialized archive developing the theme in the current social context." (jury statement)

The Extrasensory-Aesthetics Research Working Group was founded in 2017. The current members include Jan Kolský, Vojtěch Märc, Matěj Pavlík, and Peter Sit. Their work is based on the ongoing research of Czechoslovak parapsychology as well as the conviction that art can become a tool of social learning. The group explores the limits of science and art and researches their often esoteric language. They relate to technologies and magic, their connections with art, their occasional indistinguishability, and various forms of rationality employed within these fields. They study the effect of extrasensory perception on contemporary art, perceived as part of the world which has been conjured away and conjured up again. Their research of phenomena like telepathy and telekinesis hopes to refine our attention towards non-standard ways of creation and transmission of information and peculiar methods of manipulation. The outputs of the Work Group were presented at Josef Sudek Studio during Fotograf Festival and at Cursor Gallery in Prague, at LOM in Bratislava, online as well as in a forest during a program run by the Institute of Anxiety. 

Jindřich Chalupecký Award 2020 Exhibition

Videoprofile of Extrasensory-Aesthetics Research Working Group