Oskar Helcel – AU 3255

25. 9. 2017

The Army Unit 3255, abbreviated as AU, is a bounded area taking circa 1/10 of the area of Petřín Hill in Prague. This area is used by the military Communication and Information Systems Agency (AKIS)¹ and by the Department of Criminalistic Technical Equipment and Expertise of the Criminal Service of the Military Police. In the south-west part of the area rises a satellite tower some 60 m high, operated by the INTV l.l.c. company.²

To my surprise, Petřín Hill thus not only has one dominant feature, the well-known historical tower, but two of them. I realised this while moving around the city and the discovery was an impetus for further inquiry. I obtained information about the army unit from three sources: In the first phase I photographed the area from the outside, documented all important entry points and objects and marked them on a map. I then tried to obtain information about the area’s specific function and historical context via email correspondence with the Armed Forces offices, especially with the General Staff office. However, the office could only provide me with very general information about the area’s purpose. My third source of information was a booklet³ documenting the history of the unit: its technological development, commanders from 1984 onwards and the pastimes of the unit’s members. Yet the publication doesn’t bring any detailed information about specific functions of the unit either.

What do we see when we’re looking? What part of the reality are we capable of absorbing and to what degree is our perception selective?

The purpose of this documentation game is to see as much in a section of reality as possible. A space with non-public information about its function was cut-out from a public park. I’m standing on my toes to peep over the wall and I wish there was a big fat cat behind it. I observe the place or just the tower which can observe me. I try to act as a free person, to play, but I am aware of moving on the borderline of something illegal. How much information can I get as a citizen of this state about this state?

From my point of view, to constantly enlarge our horizons beyond our usual perception is a necessity. For this is the only way to keep moving and touch and feel the borders of the social system and not just remain within its frame.

AKIS (Communication and Information Systems Agency), part of the General Staff of the Czech Army operates a non-public telecommunication network (in compliance with the Act n° 127/2005 Coll. and 183/2006 Coll.), designated information systems and operational and tactical commandment and management systems of land and air forces. AKIS is a conceptual body managing property groups 2.4 KIS and 6.2 and vouches to secure the defence department by this property.
"1994 is a very important milestone in the history of our society: since 1994 we’ve been providing satellite and telecommunication services to the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic. We’ve been securing mostly communication between the Czech Republic and units deployed in international missions. We are extremely proud of this fact and consider the Ministry of Defence our most important key customer". Source: www.intv.cz.
50. výročí založení VÚ 3255 Praha: 1960–2010 (50th Anniversary of theMU 3255 Prague: 1960–2010). Prague: Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic – Presentation and Information Centre of the Ministry of Defence, 2010. ISBN 978-80-7278-552-0

Oskar Helcel

is an audiovisual artist, photographer and performer. He graduated from the Department of Photography at FAMU in Prague in the studios of Markéta Kinterová and Hynek Alt. He has had several solo and group exhibitions as within Other Visions at PAF – Festival of Film Animation and Contemporary Art in Olomouc Gallery XY, 2022; Glajcha, Josef Sudek Studio, 2022; Tekoucí Dům, Jelení Gallery, Prague, 2020; Argumented Reality, online exhibition within The National Film Archive, 2021; Houses of Culture (together with Martin Netočný), Centre for Contemporary Art Prague, 2019. Helcel received an honorable mention in the European art thesis competition START POINT Prize 2020. He is a co-founder and active member of the theatre group Akolektiv Helmut.

#30 Eye In The Sky

The edition entitled Eye in the Sky reverts the digital focus of the Fotograf Festival back into the form of its predecessor – a printed magazine. When, on a daily basis, the chaos of internet browsing redefines our nerve endings and the ability to perceive the linear flow of text, and consequently everything remains suspended in imaginary clouds, our magazine’s pages place an accent on the previously standard form of narrative – one that has a beginning and an end, no matter how open. It scans through the timeline documenting the revolutions of age-old humanity, or, more precisely, the concept that we have learned to call humanity. From pigeons equipped with early cameras, circling over cities and people at the start of the modern era, taking fuzzy pictures of the urban landscape, to a stratosphere overflowing with hi-res imagers and endless streams of data. From literature to the continuous stream of social networks. From the collective or the individual to the globally unified. Despite the natural limitations of its medium, Fotograf Magazine expands the field of interest exploring the issues associated with the ubiquitous connection to the internet.