The connection between man and nature is the basis of human existence. The connection between man and art is its spiritual superstructure. And the connection of man, nature, and art is a unique sensation in eight special sites of the Košice World Region.
Your next visit to the east of Slovakia can become a memorable experience if you choose to visit an unusual gallery in an open landscape, called Art at Place X. Wandering through its eight exhibits will also become an opportunity for you to get to know new places and new people. You will visit the Slovenský Raj and Slovenský Kras National Parks, the Turzov Lake near Gelnica, the Herľany Geyser, the floodplain forest by the Bodrog River and the Bird Paradise on the Ponds in Senné.
You will hardly find a gallery of comparable size in Slovakia or even in Europe. Each Place X will therefore become a perfect occasion for a shorter or longer trip to the territory, where you will get to know things that are less known or unjustly overlooked. And while you’re sure to meet fellow explorers like yourself on these voyages, our East and its land art gallery will be there just for you!
You don’t have to go far to find three of the eight art artifacts. They are literally a stone’s throw from Košice and are perfect for a quick “escape from the ordinary”. The Falling Star, Comet, will lead you to the entrance of the Zádielska Dolina valley, a popular location for hikers in the east of the Slovak Karst National Park, where Michal Machciník’s work will remind you how important it is to perceive oneself as a co-creator of the environment that we only “borrow” from nature.
The Turzov Lake near the town of Gelnica is a place of contemplation. Human traces in the form of (non-)existing objects complete its natural genius loci. Decades of vibrant life alternate with decades of vivid memories, and Jarmila Mitríkováhas materialized this dynamic in the ceramic mosaic “ Crayfish Procedure” right on the shore of the lake to invite you to a pleasant “meeting with oneself”.
Time has been with us since we can measure it. For example, by simply observing the movement of celestial bodies. In the immediate vicinity of Košice, in the world’s unique cold geyser in Herľany, Samuel Velebný gives you the opportunity to become, at least for a moment, a “measure of time” and, like a living “hand” on a large sundial, to embark on a journey To Time in the Sky.
Wandering to paradise, in this case Slovenský Raj – Slovak Paradise, does not have to be only about gorges and the Dobšinská Ľadová Jaskyňa ice cave. Art enthusiasts looking for monumental works in nature should head to Košiarny Briežok. Jozef Pilát made this favourite resting place of the Spiš inhabitants even more special by constructing an impressive reminder of the regional construction tradition in the form of the “log work” Rainbow Drinking Water.
Another popular “carefree” site, increasingly sought after by locals and visitors to the Slovenský Raj – Slovak Paradise, is the site of the defunct Sans Souci summer palace above the village of Iliašovce. The artists have complemented the atmosphere of this peaceful historical place with a work that motivates us to think about the times we are currently in, and which pushes the boundaries of our ideas of the possible and the impossible. Will the thermophilic plant take hold in the simple shelter created for it by Martin Piaček and Matej Gavula? Their Fig Cave will offer you the answers.
Not far from the ‘paradise’, there is the magical land of the region of Gemer. Its history is more eventful and glorious than its future, but its exploration always takes place in the present. The former glorious towns and picturesque valleys, whose mouths are marked for better or worse by mining and metallurgical activities of the past, have inspired the creation of the unusual landscape monument 1+1=LES in Drnava. Matúš Kurdel has skilfully inscribed the long story of the coexistence of both animate and inanimate nature in it. Join us! Enter the steel body of Gemer and become its living heart for a moment!
Even in the East, you can go further east! For example, to see the birds that have taken a liking to the lowlands around the vast Senianske Rybníky ponds and make stops here with practiced regularity on their migratory routes. Their subtle connection with humans has been documented in the subtle yet expressive work Kukaň by Tomáš Kocka Jusko and Alex Selmeci. Kukaň is a distinctive lookout tower that turns the observer’s perspective from man to the bird itself. After all, who was the first in this peaceful Zemplín “steppe”?
The Bodrog, a river without a source, is most beautiful to the observer right from its surface. Lined with dense vegetation, different in every season and abundant in fauna and flora, it is an eternally flowing island of the pristine nature of the Slovak East. The protected bog turtle, which Radovan Čerevka chose as his creative inspiration, has become its symbol. In an abandoned quarry, near the Tajba Nature Reserve, he piled up an earthen mound in the shape of a monumental tortoise shell. This Turtle Bunker refers to the nearby habitat of the endangered species as a place of refuge and a site of observation, and challenges each of us to take individual responsibility for an increasingly vulnerable nature.
To learn more about all eight artworks from the unique land art gallery Art in Place X, visit www.umenienamieste.sk.
