PRAGA CAPUT REGNI -
PRAGA CAPUT MEDIA
Michael Bielicky
Academic of Fine Arts, Prague
Prague does not have a consistent historical development of old/new media, but this city can proud of some events that have been of great importance and significance for the history of media. Contemporary, modern sounding phrases such as "electronic art", virtual reality", interactive art" and artificial intelligence" can be found in the past, traceable back to the middle ages. Of course these phenomena then had different definitions.
These events, which I would like to discuss, are not coincidences, but always relate to a certain time and climate in which they occur. Not least, it was the special energy of this old city which always drove people to search for the interface of the beyond. The linguists declare that the name "Prague" comes from the Czech word "praha", which means "verge". There are places in Prague, where the impression of moving through different optical illusions, puts you into a twilight zone state of being. It is not by coincidence that Prague is the only city on the world with a small group of active surrealists. At the head of this group is the film animator Jan Svankmajer.
In the 16th century the famous scholar and mystic, Juan Loew ben Bezalel, known as "High Rabbi Loew" live in Prag. This man, who possessed an encyclopaedic know ledge, is the spiritual, as well as physical forefather of the mathematician Theodor von Karman von Karman saw in Rabbi Loew the first genius of practical mathematics. As well know, he is not only said to have invented the Golem, his experiments with the camera obscure also impressed King Rudolf II. so much, that he became included in the circle of alchemists, artists and astronomists together with Johanne Keppler and Tycho de Brahe. Furthermore, it is possible to propose that Rabbi Loew was the spiritual forefather of two other mathematicians, Johann von Neumann and Norber Wiener, who more than anyone else, founded the theoretical bases for mathematical magic, which produced the Golem of our days, the modern computer. In the end the Golem is nothing more than a reproduction of Adam, the first human being, a creature created by human intelligence and application.
Although under the control of its creator, fulfilling given tasks, it can develop a dangerous tendency to withdraw from this subservience and unleash destructive capabilities - just like the human being itself. That old and new Golem have the same concepts is out the question. The old Golem is based on a mystical combination of 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, which are, at the same time, the elements and building blocks of the world.
The new Golem is based on a simpler, though much more intricate system. Instead of 22 elements, he just knows 2: The two numbers zero and one, which make up the binary number system. Both Golems need energy to move. For the old Golem this energy was language, for the new one, it is electricity. It is a fact that both Golems can increase their productivity, and both are able to store information. Today this phenomenon is called "artificial intelligence".
If we talk about virtual reality nowadays, it should be mentioned that one day Rudolf II decided to visit the house of Rabbi Loew. That night Rabbi Loew performs a miracle: he changes his house into a castle. With his camera obscure he projected pictures from inside of the Hradschin on the walls of his house. In this way Rudolf II had the impression of being in castle.
In the 1920's the novel "R.U.R" (Rossurn's Universal Robots) from Karel ^apek, a visionary of modern society, was published in Prag. The expression "Robot" ^apek derived from the Czech slang word "Robota" for "compulsory labour". Which on the other hand comes from Russian world "Robota", "labour". This "science non-fiction horror story" is first of all, a warning of the technological society that it is on the verge of destroying itself. ^apek's robots belong to the Golem family. These automatons do not consist of mechanical and electronic parts, but out of a sort of protoplasm. A contrary of Rabbi Loewe's Golem, the robots have an intelligence and a great memory.
In the year 1958, in the Czech pavilion at the Expo in Brussels, a small sensation was created the "Laterna Magica". The film director Alfred Radok managed to produce the interface between theatre and film. On the theatre stage were all sorts of different film projecting screens. The actors vanished within then and the only way to see them was in the projected film. Then suddenly they would jump out of them into the stage. This fluent movement, between the material and immaterial world, this back and forth between reality and dream, still charms many people today in Rag.
Nine years later, during the Expo in Montreal, there is another fascinating surprise on a top of the "Laterna Magica": "the Cinema-automate", the creation of Cincera and Svitacek, it was the world's first interactive cinema. During the presentation the film was stops several times, and somebody would step out into the stage to task the spectators how the film should continue. Two alternatives were offered. At each seat of his specially equipped cinema, a button had been installed, with which the spectators could express their choice. The votes would be counted, and the version for which the majority of spectators voted for, was shown. This active participation in film can be seen as a milestone in the history of interactive art. The "Cinema-automate" found it's place in a Prag after the Expo, but shortly following the 1968 invasion by Warsaw Pact troops, it was closed. Perhaps the former rules were afraid, since the experience of the "Cinema-automate" followed democratic principles, that a way of democratic thinking could develop.
In the 70's and 80's it is quiet around the media scene in Prag. Briefly before the Warsaw Packt troops invaded, some people formed a group calls "Video salon", led by the painter and film animator R·dek Pil·r. They had close lies to the famous film animator of Czech film, which was influenced by Jiri Trnka, Karel Zemon and Jan vankmajer.
In 1991 I was called by the Prag Academy of Art to found and lead a section for new media. Nam June Paik donated quite a large amount of money for equipment. As well, other (private) people from Germany supported this project. Thanks to the DAAD in Bonn, a long-term instructor for my department was made available for several years. The department is situated in a Cubist influenced villa. this first students reacted very individually in their way of using the new technology. From videotapes to video installations interactive video sculptress, live video performances to communication art, they use new techniques in a serious, but detached way.
During their first international experiences, they received acknowledgement for their work. The communication project "I.P.I." during the "SIGGRAPH" at the "Prazza Virtuale" (Van Gogh TV) during the "Documenta 92" of the project "Electronic Cafe" (235-media Köln) were interesting experiences but passed many question for the students. Two years ago the "Mediaarchiv" was founded by, among others, Woody Vasulka and Petr Vrana. Today, the leading expert in the Eastern European media scene, is the Prag and Bucharest residing Japanese writer on public affairs and organiser of "special events", Keiko Sei, who engaged herself in Eastern Europe before the well fell Robert Musil wrote: "Prag is the point of intersection - the interface - of the old world axes." I would like to add. Prag is the point of intersection/interface between yesterday and tomorrow, and at the same time between now and never.
Bibliography:
Gershom Scholem, "Judaica 11", Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 1970
Angelo Maria Ripellino, "Magisches Prag" Wunderlich T¸bingen 1982
Zdenek Pesanek, "Kinetismus", Prag 1941
The book "Kinetismus" will be published in German in autumn 1995 by Merve, Berlin