Point Invasion

Begun in 2004 while Kaláb was still a student, Pointíci (“little points”) are testimony to both his creativity, and the diligence which backs it up. The unsuspecting public considered these small three-dimensional graffiti objects to be strange statuettes, those with more imagination thought they were little dragons or birds. As for art theorists, they probably considered them to be part of a conceptual game, a hunt for dynamic futuristic sculptures. In reality, however, they were 3D POINT pieces, diminutive in size, yet perfectly sculpturally executed. The artist cast them in plaster and decorated them using various color combinations – those with the Czech flag’s red, white and blue color scheme were particularly popular. He then placed them on the corners of apartment buildings, on ledges and flat roofs, as well as on the building of the railway station, for example, in the majority putting them in inaccessible places at an appropriate height so that they couldn’t be easily removed. Praguers took a liking to the Point Birds, as they became known in English, which he installed level-headedly during the day using a ladder (it never occurred to anyone that he wasn’t a municipal technician). They made the city come alive to an almost unbelievable extent. All a person had to do to improve their mood was raise their head every now and then. A gallery version was also made, cast in bronze, which Kaláb presented at his first solo exhibition in 2008. The Point Birds also appeared abroad, for example in Berlin, Moscow and New York. It’s now 2018 and the Point Birds are back – Jan Kaláb has come up with a new edition, a little simplified, more compact, with smoother features. Once more he’s testing how attentive Praguers are, yet again he’s moving around the city with a ladder, undisturbed. He’s continuing where he left off years ago, but at the same time discovering the new buildings that have sprung up since then. He’s giving himself a gift for his 40th birthday.