Name: Mining and Nature
Author: Stanislav Martinec
Dating: 1979–1982
Location: in the snack bar of the University halls of residence in Ostrava-Poruba (now the Vrtule bar), dismantled in 2011 and stored in the storage areas of VŠB-TUO halls of residence
Execution: a relief made of glazed ceramics, 200 x 400 cm
MINING AND NATURE – DISMANTLED, STORED
The work that is physically present at VŠB – Technical University of Ostrava, although no one can see it at present, is the ceramic relief by Stanislav Martinec, a ceramist from South Bohemia (*1938). It was created in the early 1980s for the snack bar located in the student halls of residence in Ostrava-Poruba, and according to its theme, it can be called Mining and Nature. Perhaps this is due to the nature of the material that a large proportion of artists working with ceramics lean toward lyricism and romanticism in their works. This is also visible in the discussed relief, where our attention is immediately caught by the big butterfly hovering over a fertile landscape. But it would not be a relief for VŠB – Technical University of Ostrava if it did not also cover coal mining as a field of mining characteristic for the Ostrava region. In the second plan (the underground one), the geological layers of the Earth drilled by shafts through which the miners move, similar to the moles uncovering the Earth while moving through corridors, open up to the eye of an observer. It is possible that this combination of nature and mining was aimed at by the artistic committee through their recommendations at a time of the proposal submission process in 1979, which stated: “... the author shall apply the element of life and man’s labour and emphasize local colouring.” In any case, it is the combination of hard work in the mine and a sentimental landscape painting above, which grants a special grace and humour to the piece. In reference to a statement of praise by the committee during the final approval of the work of art in 1982, it seems that the author also respected that “local colouring.” Unfortunately, we cannot verify this. During the last reconstruction of the so-called old cafeteria (stará menza), later renamed Vrtule club, in 2011, the relief was dismantled and carefully wrapped, and is now sitting in the storage areas of the halls of residence, waiting for its next chance.
