The Infra-ordinary Lab project by artist Tereza Violet Stehlíková took place in the Czech Republic in June 2023, as part of the Prague Quadrennial
It was a site-specific participatory performance that invited you on a multi-sensory exploration of Holešovická Tržnice, framing perception and peeling the skin of the everyday to reveal hidden narratives.
"We spend more and more time in clinical environments, often a sterile world of a reality mediated through a screen and experienced mainly audio-visually. We take our everyday, seemingly mundane reality for granted. We have become so accustomed to it that we no longer perceive it. Equally, we take our own bodies for granted, simply accepting the information our senses feed us without questioning what is happening.
This performance is conceived as a playful experimental laboratory to help you question some of these habitual ways by framing your experience of a particular place. Through spoken and other sensory prompts, some of the hidden narratives of this unique place and its history will be revealed, while also opening up space for your own imagination.
The project is part of an ongoing artistic research by artist and educator Tereza Stehlikova, which explores how our environment becomes an extension of our mental landscape, while also shaping it, and the role our senses play in mediating this vital relationship, as well as the impact of technology on it. These themes are further explored in the journal Tangible Territory, which Tereza launched during the pandemic and which invites artists and scholars to discuss these topics."
The score by Scanner accompanied each of the interactions and performances. It has never been heard outside of this environment. It utilises a combination of new material and pre-processed sound from previous recordings.
pq.cz/pq-2023-info/projects-2023/pq-performance-rare-experiences/the-infra-ordinary-lab-tereza-stehlikova/