Air

Jan Jedlička / Switzerland / 2001 / 6 min.

synopsis

In 2001, Jan Jedlička made a short film with Swiss aeronaut, psychiatrist, and solar energy promoter Bertrand Piccard. In his visually sober film, Jedlička treats the idea of heroism that accompanies human attempts to fly in with a bit of humour. As a result, Piccard's humanistic, environmental message comes across as lacking pathos.

biography

Jan Jedlička was born in 1944 in Prague, where he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts from 1962 to 1968. A year after the occupation, he emigrated to Switzerland where he ended up deviating from his usual direction of fantastic realism. He uses various techniques and mediums in his work – illustration, watercolor, photography, earth pigments, mezzotint, serigraphs, and film. His recurring cycles explore the landscape in terms of movement and time (southern Tuscany, Ireland, Wales, Prague and the surrounding area), but are able to capture – sharply and occasionally with a malicious joke – the shades of human nature and community.