On Friday 13 June yet another gambling establishment was opened in the Czech town of Bystřice pod Hostýnem. Prizes on offer included "debt collections", "time behind bars" and "family breakup".
The opening was in fact an art installation in the shop window of a dilapidated building. The local Beautification and Entertainment Association (Okrašlovací a zábavní spolek – OZS) asked artist Lukáš Houdek to collaborate on it with them, and their ironic intervention into the public space is meant to open up debate on regulating gambling in the town.
Houdek fitted the rollers of an old slot machine with new icons symbolizing the risks of gambling. A little table with an ashtray and a cigarette butt, old chairs, climbing flowers and dusty curtains complete the environment of the dingy gambling room, all of it crammed into the shop window.
The OZS has leased the space from the creditors’ committee that is engaged in a lawsuit with the former owner of the building. Due to the many years their dispute has lasted, the building on the town’s main street is now falling apart.
The association reconstructed the shop window and has opened a street gallery there, laconically called "Display" ("Výloha"). Houdek’s "Project Gambling" ("Projekt Herna") is the gallery’s first show.
The most striking element of the installation is the sticker on the shop window itself reading "Gambling" ("Herna"). "When people first saw that sign, they sent us angry comments. They were under the impression that yet another such business was really opening in Bystřice and they were bitter about it. That shows not only that the installation makes a realistic impression, but also that the OZS has selected a topic that genuinely bothers town residents," Houdek says, recalling the preparations for the exhibition.
"When they look at the display a little closer, however, the residents realize that this is an ironic paraphrase that directly points out the problem of apparently easy winnings – which in reality, in most cases, mean on the contrary that the gambler falls into a vicious circle. What is actually won is completely different from what the player expected to win. Our slot machine, which is the central object of the installation, is sincere about that and puts its cards on the table," Houdek says.
Next to the title of the installation, the new slot machine’s icons are also depicted along the sides of the display – a coffin, an empty bottle, and a house torn in half to symbolize family breakup. Along the bottom edge of the display is a sign summarizing the current situation in the small Moravian town: "Bystřice pod Hostýnem – 8 400 residents – eight gambling establishments – 110 gambling machines."
"The more attentive passers-by probably will have no problem understanding our intentions. We’ve also hung two bottles and a can of dried beans on the door as our own kind of ballot box, and above them there is a sign asking passers-by to vote by putting a bean in one of the bottles to tell us whether they are for or against the town hall proceeding against rampant gambling," explains OZS chair Jakub Koníček.
Around 70 people attended Friday’s street opening to meet the designer of the installation, who took souvenir photographs of those interested inside the gambling establishment. Visitors were also able to buy a postcard with motifs from the installation.
"We usually put something on a postcard that a given locality is proud of, something that makes it stand out, that makes it special. The ubiquitous gambling establishments are become a more and more marked symbol of Bystřice for its residents – all we had to do was brag about this fact," Pavel Kubaník, a member of the OZS, said of the ironic souvenir.
The association is also offering the postcard for sale through its website, www.ozs.cz. The installation will be on view for one month at Výloha on Dolní Street in Bystřice pod Hostýnem.
The last day of the OZS installation, 19 July, will feature a public debate on the topic of regulating gambling. The OZS brings together people who want to actively contribute toward improving life in Bystřice pod Hostýnem.
The group focuses on the renovation and use of public spaces and the convening of cultural and social events. Activities realized to date by the association include running the Knoflík family center, holding public film screenings, running the Potmě café for visually-impaired customers and wait staff, leading guided tours on Architecture Day, holding a charitable clothing bazaar, and other events.
Artist Lukáš Houdek focuses on issues of identity in his work, whether his own identity (Život snů – A Life of Dreams, Freakshow, Všechny kalhotky mojí matky – All My Mother’s Underwear, Výročí – Anniversary) or that of transgender people (Robin, F64.0_online, Lilie, Ritika). In recent years he has focused on the postwar displacement of ethnic Germans and the transformation of the Czech border areas (Umění zabíjet – The Art of Killing, Umění dosídlit – The Art of Residing, Odložené životy – Deferred Lives, Musíš zapomenout na Johanna – You Must Forget about Johann), as well as interventions in public space that draw attention to current problems (Teorie přizpůsobivosti – Theory of Adaptability, Pomník okupantům – Monument to the Occupiers).
