by Laurie Amat, photos:Marcela Burdová

Usarian vocalist Laurie Amat has known artist/architect Franta Skála for over 15 years, since the first San Francisco visit of the secret society BKS. She recently spoke with Skála at an undisclosed location where he is building a wooden ship on a rolling hillside field. Skála and his art have always defied analysis. These are excerpts from their conversation from the main deck

Provokátor: So, Franta, what is your opinion of Outsider art.

Franta Skála: I like Outsider Art more than professional art. It is art by “amateurs,” but amateur is not something bad. 

P: What does it mean in the way you say it?

FS: Outsider artists are mostly not academic artists. But the question is, what is professional, what does it mean?

P: That can be pretty subjective.

FS: For me Outsider art is more authentic because much contemporary art is more calculated, and I think Outsider art is not, it’s much more natural. I love popular art, natural art; it’s more real art because it is, well, let’s say that I think most contemporary art is far away from real life.  I think sometimes artists just want to produce.

P: Perhaps “We will show you the Way”?

FS: Sometimes it is only a game. I think this point is somehow the beginning of the separation of art forms.

P: As modern “art” broke away from the traditionalist art?

FS: I know it’s a problem, because my art is modern but also sometimes it is very controversial because I am a traditionalist in craft and I love all processes [media] and I can appreciate it but, on the other side, I still keep absolutely free but very carefully work with other things. I try to be very sensitive with an object because it”s really very fragile. It could be something hard and very small, and I’m not “Artist.” …
And I don’t like to say I’m “Artist.” But I have to be called something somehow. Now, when I’m building this thing, I don’t feel like it’s art. It’s craft.

P: You mean the ship?  

FS: Yes.

P: Franta, this month’s [October print] Provakátor deals with fanaticism. In your view, what is the difference between Fanaticism and Art?FS: I think that in all work there must be a little fanaticism, but it’s hard to say because I get that way from time to time. I enjoy my work, but I’m not crazy. I don’t know what it means in this case. To do something, to feel something like “spaleni” [burning], is this fanaticism?

P: Well that’s the thing. Fanaticism. We know it in the obvious ways, but can’t always define it.
 
FS: Yeah, because sometimes I see the artist as very, very serious. Something [art] can arise in a very hard way, sometimes a long process, taking years to change, and then sometimes it’s just so quick. So I don’t know about the definition of fanaticism. It’s  possibly some different way of process.

P: Like Van Gogh, some might say he is fanatic, but is that just desire, not necessarily fanaticism?

FS: I think desire is very important. I think desire and passion. To make art with passion.


P: Thanks Franta … Oh, and the ship?

FS: God came to me in a dream and told me build a ship on the field. I asked, will there be another flood? And he said, no something bigger, something absolutely new. And I said so why should I build the ship—it’s nonsense. It’s nonsense, yes, god said, but the only people who will survive are those who appreciate nonsense. …
Because value of nonsense is very important.

P: Well, it’s the only thing that gets us through. Wonder, nonsense.

FS: Absolutely

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