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A hand with tightly gripped fingers and a thumb raised upward. It is a gesture generally well-known in Western culture as perceived symbol of consent. The gesture performed by the skeleton of the hand refers though to death and extinction, questioning its purely positive meaning.
In today’s society, this gesture is a mass-used social networking symbol. The presence or absence of a thumb beneath a post may lead to mental collisions and psychological traumas of all participants in the process.
After adding a new post, no matter weather it is a picture of his pet, trip experience or a political comment, user expects the deserved whirlwind of likes from his "friends". Their number is a measure of social approval and success, bringing frustration if there is not enough, blissfulness if there are a lot, making one constantly scrutinizing their social networks, whether new likes are coming, and causing anger at “friends” who have not liked the post, even though they should have. User becomes obsessed in collecting likes and publishing endless posts. In order to gain the number of likes desired, he adapts to public tastes and applies self-stylization for his best public perception. Because yesterday's like is considered a sure "death-like" he can never ease up his efforts.
In contrast to ancient times, where in the blood public performances the position of the thumb decided about life and death, in our culture he decides about the being and non-being of a social network user and becomes unwittingly the symbol of extinction of a real life in favour to his more attractive virtual form.
Kryštof Hošek
Kryštof Hošek studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. He focuses mainly on figurative motifs in his sculptures, sculptures that push the boundaries of decadence, cartoons and pop-art, critically respond to contemporary social or political events. His handwriting reaches hyper-realistic forms. In this view, impressive visual objects are created. He exhibits on his own or in group exhibitions both domestically and abroad (for example, European Museum of Modern Art, Barcelona, 2013; Museo Maxxi, Rome, 2015). In addition to free creations, he occasionally devotes himself to other sculptural disciplines and outdoor and interior installations in various materials and techniques. He is represented in private and public collections. He lives and works in Prague.
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