Critical Daily    Critical practice in graphic design

The publication of my photographic series is my visual response to current environmental issues. The series called Man-made reflects the relationship between man and nature. I have a personal interest in this topic. It has affected my personal habits and I also had to react artistically.

I have created a series of black and white photographs exploring the relationship between man and nature in his everyday environment. In the series, I recorded obscure still lifes that I found in nearby housing and leisure areas. These places exist on the border between interiors, landscapes, or cultivated agricultural areas.

I see in them the human effort to transform nature and change it to one's own esthetic preferences. I have found also the opposite effect where man has copied shapes or functions of objects created by nature. I have recorded different “human” designs which are inspired by nature.

The photographs are embedded in the publication as separate sheets. The owner may work freely with the photographs. He may take the publication apart and either, display the individual photographs or give them to someone as a present. The photographs are numbered so they can be aligned back in the order which I originally set as the author. I have picked a slender packaging format and small print sizeto simplify the distribution to bookshops with artbooks and magazines.

The cover that holds the photographs together is, ironically, made from plastic. A paper-based fcover would not last for more than a couple of days without being damaged. The series was originally published in a print run of 90 pieces and was exhibited at the OFF festival Bratislava 2018, which was dedicated to the topic of anthropocene - the age of humans.

Man-made exhibited at OFF festival Bratislava 2018.
Man-made exhibited at Beastro Bar gallery.
This project was realized thanks to the support and public grant funding by the Slovak Arts Council.
Photodocumentation of the book: Juraj Starovecký, Michaela Dutková