EKPHRASIS PURE MOBILE VS. DOLCE VITA

Grafické řešení, typografie, sazba, ilustrace a tisková příprava knihy pro českou umělkyni žijící na Islandu Moniku Fryčovou. Kniha o 640 stranách vyšla v nákladu 300 kusů. Vytištěna byla v roce 2019 v tiskárně Helbich a.s Brno. Tisk přebálky realizovalo sítotiskové studio Antl, Prostějov.

Brotherhood publishing house. Seydisjordur, Iceland

LINKS: Monika Fryčová
LINKS: Ekphrasis Vol. 1 Pure mobile vs. DolceVita

“Pure Mobile vs. Dolce Vita” by Monika Fryčová

WARNING! Do not try this at home or abroad: The following book features a journey performed by a professional artist (as stated by the icelandic customs, s.p. 68) under the supervision of professionals (pagan gods).

Or how should an introduction to the book by Monika Fryčová be given? This book should come with advice aimed particularly at those that think of travelling as an all inclusive booking package, featuring flight, hotel and full pension at a beach resort somewhere in a vacation paradise: always the same, always exactly what you expect, just stay in your lifelong doze.

Already the prologue with the dedication on page 3 is an ironic joke in parts. You might not doubt the two individuals mentioned as being close friends of the author, but to find a dedication to AirBnB — seen as the embodiment of an evil travel industry eroding whole cities and cultures — reads like a macabre joke in the context of Fryčova’s travelling practice, which is an anachronistic anarchic adventure falling out of time, a one on one encounter with stangers and places as she drives through Europe. To complete the statement the reader finds a direct comment on the following page, with: ”My Apologies, I’m breaking all the rules on my first Round”. Thus the mindset for both travel and writing is stated: no rules apply to her, she will break them all.

That’s why no travel literature a la Huxley or Kerouac and whoever followed will stick to her as a stereotype revelling in nostalgia. Even if all character traces describing the clientel of alternative travel guides — those guides addressing a certain kind of backpacking individual claiming to not follow plans, to not be tied to time, to never think about driving home, to not shy away from inconveniences, to be fluent in the local languages and to a striving for immersion in the foreign culture— apply to Fryčová, she still has a plan. Because the back cover of the book reads:

In 2013 Monika Fryčová drove by Scooter from Iceland to Portugal and then back again. She brought Icelandic bacalhau to Portugal and took Portugese Batata-Doce back to Iceland.

As Sigurbergur is asked early on in the book, which by the way weighs as heavy as a rock, if it would be possible to go on such a journey by Scooter, he replies: “Maybe, it’s okay, you are artist, you can make everything.” Although, adding a relatively realistic expectation to it: “Only you go very slow and maybe… you come after very looooong time.”

To prepare for the journey the vehicle, its raider plus the fish get blessed by the northern gods in a pagan ritual and Frčová receives a document by the Icelandic customs to legally transport a pack of dried cod.

The rest is an astonishing journey on a small overloaded vehicle, described in a poetic diary with hundreds of images and documents plus a fold out roadmap of over 600 pages.

So don’t forget your travel insurance and buy the Book! Sebastian Reuss, Dorothea Schlüter gallery, Hamburg 2020