The result of one interesting life story is the award of a prize for significant artistic work to Helena Lukášová from the Faculty of Informatics. A teacher at the Department of Computer Graphics and Design originally graduated from sculpture studies in Bratislava, lived in the United States for six years and after coming back to Brno she connects art and the digital world. Her sculptures are first created virtually.
Is it a bit of a paradox? Should sculptures be created exclusively by human hands? Don't tell this to Helena. “It is as if one argued that we should give up on computer and Internet and work only with pencil and paper. Connecting worlds which had existed separately is what is interesting about this," says the woman who received the Rector's prize for her project I am the Venus.
In its creation, she used software developed by her colleague Jiří Chmelík, who came up with a program of virtual environment for the creation of art works. A set of sensors placed e.g. on the body records, with the help of a group of cameras, the events in the room, and the artist can work with the resulting image in a number of ways. First, Helena only toyed with the system but then she got an idea that she can also become the famous Venus.
“I just copied the shape of my body using my hands. The sensor trajectory is assigned a certain diameter, it looks as if I let myself encircle with a pipe, so the resulting shape is not subtle, it's rather a full-figured woman," the awarded artist describes.
A whole series of Venuses was created and printed small-scale on a 3D printer. However, an opportunity appeared to create one real sculpture - Helena managed to get a place in a residential stay in Italy. It was interesting for her mainly due to the fact that she could use exclusive material named Carrara marble and also due to the method used to create the sculpture. It was sculptured using a robotic arm, i.e. the artist first sends an electronic visualization and the machine creates a rough form for her. However, work with a chisel and polishing cannot be avoided in the end, human hands also had to be involved.
The art work has already been presented in London, Paris or Florence and it arrived in the United States a few days ago. It will be exhibited in a sculpture park in New Jersey. “The curator of the local collection wants the collection to include objects created using new methods. A QR code will be available for the visitors, so they will be able to learn about the whole creation process," says contented Helena who made it to the USA with her sculpture also thanks to her previous experience.
When she completed her studies in Bratislava, she didn't have a clear picture of her future, so she went overseas to study and later also work at the Johnson Atelier Technical Institute of Sculpture. Custom-made artworks for clients are made four days a week and the students can use the ateliers in the evenings and on weekends but as Helena says, the result was that they would spend there almost all their time. She remembers her stay at the institute fondly. She now passes on the experience from it and the creative atmosphere to students back home in the Czech Republic.