Tomas Penc Art

Night is a Day That Fell Short

Mild steel, aluminium, electronics, glycerin, PVC, black food dye, dimensions approx. 3 x 6 x 1.2 meters, 2023

Robert C. Turner Gallery, Alfred University, NY, USA

A timebased installation built from a reconstructed observatory gearbox and a time-paced liquid system. The mechanism drives a slow counterclockwise rotation, completing a cycle over approximately twelve hours. At regular intervals, a mixture of corn syrup and black dye is introduced, forming a dense circular trace.

The work draws on Saturn—the “sun of night”—as a counterpart to solar cycles. Through duration and repetition, it turns mechanical motion into a slow record of time.

Balancing industrial mechanism with organic accumulation, the work constructs a closed system that mimics natural processes while remaining fundamentally artificial. It follows the logic of natural cycles, but in its limited understanding replicates form without the intelligence that gives it meaning.

Tomáš Penc - Night is a Day That Fell Short, 2023

Don't Struggle for Air Where it Can't be Found

Kinetic installation with mild steel, drum stick, electronics, custom 3D prints, dimensions approx. 160 x 40 x 40 cm, 2022

Artwork produced in 2022 during Alfred University MFA degree study in the USA.

This installation explores an idea from a book titled The Path of Silence by philosopher, pedagogue, mystic, and esotericist Mikhael Aivanhov, which proposes that high mountain altitudes are inhabited by friendly spirits that can communicate deep wisdom if approached in contemplation and silence. But these spirits are being gradually driven out by loud and crude humans that seek cheap thrills of tourism instead.

Tomáš Penc - Don't Struggle for Air Where it Can't be Found, 2022

rain machine

Interactive installation with found objects, electronics, digital projection, water, dimensions approx. 1 x 2 x 2 meters, 2022

Artwork produced in 2022 during Alfred University MFA degree study in the USA.

Kinetic installation constructed from a suspended window frame fitted with an adapted windshield washer system. A projector casts a loop of low-resolution digital rain onto the glass, while a system of tubing, reservoir, and battery drives the mechanism.

When the viewer enters, the system activates: water is dispensed across the glass as the wiper clears the droplets, which fall to the floor and form expanding puddles.

The work exists between simulation and reality, utility and futility. The viewer becomes both witness and trigger, activating the system that produces the illusion they observe, while the machine continues with indifferent persistence, maintaining a cycle that neither resolves nor progresses. Technologies once imagined as instruments of connection redraw the distances between people, alienating them within the systems meant to unite them.

Long Way From Home

Kinetic installation with holographic projection, mild steel, plaster, 3D prints, polysterene beads, electronics, found objects, approx. 2 x 2 x 1 meters, 2021

Artwork produced in 2021 during Alfred University MFA degree study in the USA.

Long Way from Home combines sculptural structures with holographic imagery to create a miniaturized hybrid environment in which physical and projected elements interact and subvert a toy-like playfulness.

The installation stages a relatable everyday modern experience using tangible materials and ephemeral visual projections, encouraging viewers to navigate between different layers of perception. Contemporary technology blends our real experiences with fantasy, creating a perception that can feel similar to hallucination. This merging of reality and imagination is increasingly evident in how we interact with digital environments.

The installation forms part of an ongoing investigation into how sculpture can expand beyond static objects and incorporate timebased and immersive visual systems.

Artwork produced in 2021 during Alfred University MFA degree study in the USA.

Charged with deception

Anamorphic light installation with neon, mild steel, custom 3D prints, approx. 5 x 2 x 2 meters, 2021

Artwork produced in 2021 during Alfred University MFA degree study in the USA.

A sculptural installation that uses light as both a material and a structural element. Constructed using neon and fabricated components, the work explores how illumination can define form, create spatial boundaries, and carry cultural associations linked to signage, control systems, and display technologies. It integrates industrial fabrication methods with precise assembly, emphasizing the relationship between material construction and perceptual effect. The work draws on the visual language of commercial and technological lighting systems by disrupting their communicative clarity. It invites viewers to reconsider how light functions not only as a technical tool but also as a cultural signifier associated with authority, spectacle, and persuasion.

Tomáš Penc - Charged with deception, 2021

ENDUSER

Audio/visual installation with holographic projectors and sound, duration 3:50 minutes, dimensions variable, 2018; (photo credits venividiphoto.net)

The exhibition was produced with support or funding from Triskel Arts Centre, Valerie Gleeson Development Bursary, National Sculpture Factory, Cork City Council Arts Office and The Arts Council of Ireland./p>

A two-part exhibition that ran in Triskel Christchurch, Cork, Ireland over three months between October 11 and December 22, 2018. This site-specific installation explored the mind-set we, as users, hold towards science and technology and its revolutionary potential that allows us to contest the boundaries of our collective existence traditionally demarcated by the external concept of God. This trend, however, also entails some dark aspects of how we relate to ourselves, one another, and our environment.

Angular Oppressors I/II

Interactive installation, bricks, steel, electronic components, paper, sound, dimensions variable, 2016

Interactive installation incorporating four sculptural stacks that react and start playing upon detection of motion. Each stack produces different note, together creating harmony. The sound is produced by a custom made speaker assembly replacing traditional speaker cone with an embossed print. The sculptural forms in front of the speakers were cast in the Czech Republic from a special aluminium alloy used for parts in aviation, industrial applications but also armed vehicle weaponry systems.