Milan Knížák
Killed Book
Artist
Milan Knížák
(1940, Plzeň), Czech
Original Title
Killed Book
Date1972
Mediumburnt book in plexibox
Dimensions21 × 14,5 × 4 cm
Classificationssculpture
Credit LineKunsthalle Praha
DescriptionMilan Knížák is an internationally renowned Czech artist whose practice includes events, fine art, design, fashion, poetry, photography, and music. He was a member of the international Fluxus movement, becoming the director of the movement’s Eastern division, known as Fluxus East, in 1965. During the 1960s, Knížák created a series of ephemeral, site-specific works. His street actions, exhibitions, and happenings from his time in the art group Aktuální Umění (Actual Art)—founded in 1964 and renamed to Aktual in 1966—significantly differed from the happenings organized by his colleagues in the West. In contrast to the happenings taking place in the USA, Knížák’s actions intentionally incorporated chance. A crucial element of these happenings was the human body as the primary measure of reality. They also sometimes worked with a random, unselected audience and a playful defamiliarization of mundane activities. The intention was to transcend to boundaries of art, infiltrating social life and intervening in the physical and spiritual space of every individual. In this conception, art was not a mere artifact but rather a process with a playful and spiritually didactic function. During the 1970s, Knížák developed a more conceptual focus while also becoming part of the mail art movement, posting instructions, directions, and challenges. Furthermore, his interest in the expanded field of art led him to explore fashion design. Clothing also played an important role in his actions, where it was, for instance, burnt or painted onto the human body. Fashion, clothing collages, and textile paintings also paved the way for his textile assemblages from the 1980s. Knížák’s later work is marked by a post-modern eclecticism, experiments with kitsch aesthetics, and quotations of other artists’ works, conveying Knížák’s ironic view of contemporary society.
Books represent an important art form in the context of Milan Knížák’s oeuvre and are demonstrative of his intermedia approach to art. Killed Book (1972) bears the marks of a destructive intervention—one of Knížák’s ways of engaging with the medium. During an action, Knížák burned and “killed” the book. Across different actions, he would “kill” books in various ways: “by shooting them, burning them, drowning them, cutting them, painting them white, red, black, and so on”. For Knížák, the concept of the “killed book” represents a powerful symbol that “has accompanied him his entire life”. Although he refuses any specific interpretation, these works reference the “killing of books” committed by different cultures across different times. His treatment of the topic is imbued with opposition to the state’s cultural politics and its lack of respect for history and cultural tradition, which were variously twisted and misinterpreted to align with the cultural politics of the Soviet Union. Simultaneously, however, Knížák, in line with the ideas of the futurists, sees the destruction and burning of art as a revitalizing process with a positive impact. Knížák also addressed the disrespect for culture in the lyrics of his “Aktual” song Assault on Culture (fig. 9), which were written on a typewriter and accompanied by hand-written notation and notes for performing the piece. In the humorous, parodical lyrics, Knížák calls for the destruction of paintings and books: “tear up the paintings burn the books have them tear the theatres down throw away anything that has any value launch an assault on culture…”. Hand-written fragments of his lyrics were also often incorporated into his musical performances, adding to the underground character of such events.
Milan Knížák (* 1940, Pilsen) lives and works in Prague. In 1958, he was admitted to a foundation year at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague but was expelled after one year. After completing his mandatory military service, Knížák worked as a cleaner. He later returned to study at the Academy of Fine Arts between 1963 and 1964, but never finished his studies. In the 1960s, he organized several notable performances in Prague’s public space, operating both alone (A Demonstration for All the Senses, 1964; A Demonstration for One, 1964) and with other members of the Aktual art group. In 1966, he organized the Fluxus Festival together with Ben Vautier and Jeff Berner; from the same year onward, he was identified by the Communist State Security as a hostile figure. From 1968 to 1970, he stayed in the USA having been invited by fellow Fluxus members. After returning to Czechoslovakia, he was tracked and prosecuted by the State Security. In 1974, he received the DAAD scholarship, but was only allowed to leave for Berlin five years later, from 1979 to 1980. From 1990 to 1997, Knížák was the rector of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, where he also led the Studio of Intermedia Work from 1990 to 2016. He was also the director of the National Gallery Prague from 1999 to 2011. He has lectured at numerous domestic and international universities and has also published several books. Knížák’s art has been shown in a range of solo and group exhibitions in the Czech Republic and abroad. His work is included in the collections of many important institutions, both Czech and international, including the National Gallery Prague, the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, the Sprengel Museum Hannover, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and the Tate Modern in London.
Books represent an important art form in the context of Milan Knížák’s oeuvre and are demonstrative of his intermedia approach to art. Killed Book (1972) bears the marks of a destructive intervention—one of Knížák’s ways of engaging with the medium. During an action, Knížák burned and “killed” the book. Across different actions, he would “kill” books in various ways: “by shooting them, burning them, drowning them, cutting them, painting them white, red, black, and so on”. For Knížák, the concept of the “killed book” represents a powerful symbol that “has accompanied him his entire life”. Although he refuses any specific interpretation, these works reference the “killing of books” committed by different cultures across different times. His treatment of the topic is imbued with opposition to the state’s cultural politics and its lack of respect for history and cultural tradition, which were variously twisted and misinterpreted to align with the cultural politics of the Soviet Union. Simultaneously, however, Knížák, in line with the ideas of the futurists, sees the destruction and burning of art as a revitalizing process with a positive impact. Knížák also addressed the disrespect for culture in the lyrics of his “Aktual” song Assault on Culture (fig. 9), which were written on a typewriter and accompanied by hand-written notation and notes for performing the piece. In the humorous, parodical lyrics, Knížák calls for the destruction of paintings and books: “tear up the paintings burn the books have them tear the theatres down throw away anything that has any value launch an assault on culture…”. Hand-written fragments of his lyrics were also often incorporated into his musical performances, adding to the underground character of such events.
Milan Knížák (* 1940, Pilsen) lives and works in Prague. In 1958, he was admitted to a foundation year at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague but was expelled after one year. After completing his mandatory military service, Knížák worked as a cleaner. He later returned to study at the Academy of Fine Arts between 1963 and 1964, but never finished his studies. In the 1960s, he organized several notable performances in Prague’s public space, operating both alone (A Demonstration for All the Senses, 1964; A Demonstration for One, 1964) and with other members of the Aktual art group. In 1966, he organized the Fluxus Festival together with Ben Vautier and Jeff Berner; from the same year onward, he was identified by the Communist State Security as a hostile figure. From 1968 to 1970, he stayed in the USA having been invited by fellow Fluxus members. After returning to Czechoslovakia, he was tracked and prosecuted by the State Security. In 1974, he received the DAAD scholarship, but was only allowed to leave for Berlin five years later, from 1979 to 1980. From 1990 to 1997, Knížák was the rector of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, where he also led the Studio of Intermedia Work from 1990 to 2016. He was also the director of the National Gallery Prague from 1999 to 2011. He has lectured at numerous domestic and international universities and has also published several books. Knížák’s art has been shown in a range of solo and group exhibitions in the Czech Republic and abroad. His work is included in the collections of many important institutions, both Czech and international, including the National Gallery Prague, the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, the Sprengel Museum Hannover, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and the Tate Modern in London.
Milan Knížák
1977-1981
