Jakub Valenta

Geo Share is an Android app that you can use to view Google Maps locations in other map apps. For example when you like finding places on Google Maps but prefer a different app for navigation. Get it on F-Droid See the code

ČSFD Export is a simple web app for the users of the ČSFD film rating website. It helps them export their data as a spreadsheet file, which can then be imported into another film rating website, for example Letterboxd. Go to the web app

ČSFD Export is featured on Letterboxd help page.

OpenStreetMap Changesets is a web app that works with OpenStreetMap, a free map of the world, maintained by a community of volunteers.

My project shows the changes made to OpenStreetMap by a given volunteer. It includes a small preview of the mapped location for each change, as well as a feed that allows you to follow the volunteer’s work. Go to the web app Follow my OpenStreetMap changes

The Law Is the Law was my contribution to the art exhibition The Law of Conservation of Violence at Display Gallery. The exhibition was about debt collection, debtors and bailiffs in the Czech Republic. Read the exhibition text

I made a series of videos with quotes from the debt collectors. What they say about their job. For example: “We often enforce nonsense. We feel it ourselves, but the nonsense is backed up by a judgment and we have to execute it,” or “Foreclosures, however, also have an educational purpose. It's not enough to talk some people down.”

Unicode Range is a tool that helps web programmers analyze font files. It shows which glyphs (letters, numbers, punctuation) the font includes in a convenient format (CSS unicode-range). Go to the web app See the code

At a sofware company, I worked as a leader of the team responsible for our servers. For the company blog, I wrote an article about how we configured the servers to handle large number of people using our product, while at the same time saving resources during less busy hours. Read the article

For our company blog, I wrote a blog post that examined whether those software engineers who work with technologies that are more behind the scenes own older phone than others. Read the blog post

At the art exhibition Measurement Terror at Fotograf Gallery, Prague, I showed my public bank account Account, my opinion poll collection Ankety z Novinky.cz, and my data visualization Website Colors.

The exhibition presented different approaches to the measuring of the world. My contribution showed the measurement of ones private life and of our media reality. Read the exhibition text

I made a map of who got vaccinated first against Covid in each European country. In some countries it was a member of a vulnerable group of people, in others a member of the medical staff, and elsewhere a member of the government.

The map was published on our company blog. See the map

Tessellation is a web app that I made with Sébastien Mazauric to generate very specific image compositions. You give the app several small images, define rules how the images should connect, and the app calculates the resulting image. Go to the web app See the code

The algorithm is similar to the Wang tiles problem.

At the art exhibition of the Trojan Tactics collective at INI Gallery, Prague, I showed my Twitter account Covid-19 is....

I printed the Twitter posts on a long stripe of receipt paper that went along the gallery walls.

Covid-19 is… was an automated Twitter account that tweeted media quotes about the opportunities that Covid gives us: “an opportunity to have more time to ourselves”, “a rare opportunity to reimagine society”, “an opportunity to bring a pet home…” Visit @covid_chance Browse the archive

Black Beemer > White Boomer was an online video art exhibition. I made its website, which featured a full-screen video player with a chapter for each artwork.

Black Beemer > White Boomer was supported by GAMPA Pardubice.

The project is no longer online.

Website Colors is a visualization of how the colors of selected webs changed over the years. I analyzed the colors of Wikipedia, BBC, Google and Amazon. See the visualization

Real Emoji is a set of 35 new emojis that I designed. The emojis go beyond the standard emoji set by showing pictures that are possibly controversial, too specific, too weird, too local, or too personal. See the new emojis Read about the decisions I made

You can also get Real Emoji as Telegram stickers

Moved is a digital calendar that you can add to your phone. Everytime I feel moved by something, I put a new calendar event to the calendar, so that it appears on your phone too. Read how to add the calendar

I’m often moved when I see someone do something nice, or when I read about a kind person, or when I’m looking out the train window.

Voting advice application comparison is chart I made before the 2019 European Parliament election. It shows the similarities and differences between the Czech and German voting advice apps.

Voting advice apps are little websites that ask people around 40 questions and then tell them which political party is most aligned with them. The Czech and German voting advice apps each ask a different set of questions, which is what my chart focuses on. View the chart See the code

Human Activities is a desktop application that I made with Jiří Skála. You can use it to get insight into which of the work that you do on your computer is paid and which is unpaid.

The application works by first asking you to sort your computer files into folders Paid work and Unpaid work. Then the app shows you a small icon that visualizes the ratio between paid and unpaid work. The visualization updates regularly. Install it on Windows Install it on macOS Install it on Ubuntu See the code and other technical information

Automatic Diary is a software tool that takes your calendar, to-do list, emails, sport activity, social media posts, films watched, your traditional diary, and similar sources. Then it creates a single calendar view showing what you did each day. See the code

Automatic Diary gives you a good overview of your life, but it doesn’t cover everything. For example unplanned activities, meeting someone, visiting a place, house work, repairs, reading books, unpublished projects, conversations, health, sleep, feelings, or what other people did is not included.

Account is an online spreadsheet that shows my bank account transaction history publicly. It is updated regularly*. Each transaction is accompanied by a stock image of money. See the spreadsheet

I keep my bank account open to see what happens when one publishes something so private.

This work was exhibited at the exhibition Measurement Terror at Fotograf Gallery, Prague.

*Not so regularly, as of 2022.

Video Pi is a mini computer that you can use to play videos in a loop. For example when you have an art gallery with a video installation that must always run, or when you have a video as a decoration at home or in your shop. You can connect the computer to a TV or projector.

The computer is fully automated. It doesn’t require a mouse, keyboard, remote control, or any maintenance. It just plays your videos forever.

Technically, Video Pi is a Raspberry Pi computer with a custom software package. Read the installation instructions

People leaving the room is a collection of scenes from films and TV series. In each scene, the main characters need to talk in private, so they ask the supporting characters to leave the room. Browse the collection

I focus on this unrealistic trope to illustrate the problems of privacy.

Ankety z Novinky.cz is an archive of all opinion polls from the Czech online newspaper Novinky.cz since the year 2015.

It shows the topics and moods that have been keeping the Czech society busy. I find the questions often more interesting than the answers.

The archive is updated several times a day. See the polls Follow using RSS

The voice of the main and supporting characters was my solo art exhibition at Karlín Studios, Prague. It was adjacent to the group exhibition This House Doesn’t Belong Here.

I showed my video work People leaving the room alongside my collection of Czech opinion polls Ankety z Novinky.cz. Read the exhibition text

In June and July 2015, Viktor Vejvoda and I broadcasted a live webcam stream from Viktor’s studio in his para-institution Institute for Art and Architecture in Zentrum für Kunst und Urbanistik (IAUZK/U), Berlin.

This work is currently not available online. Write me an email to the address below, if you’d like to receive more information about it.

(Czech only) Jako svou diplomovou práci na Akademie výtvarných umění v Praze jsem udělal devět plakátů, které představují umělecké postupy, které by mohly odolat komečnímu zneužití. Jedna recenze je popsala jako „záměrně neestetické“. Zobrazit webovou verzi této práce

In 2015, I published all my notes online, specifically all the notes I made while working on my diploma work at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague.

The notes are currently not available online. Write me an email to the address below, if you’d like to read some of the notes or receive more information about the project.

In 2014 and 2015, I printed several booklets with short texts and images commenting on various bizarre aspects of the everyday life.

This work is currently not available online. Write me an email to the address below, if you’d like to receive more information about it.

In the summer semester of 2014, I studied in the Visiting Professor Studio of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague lead by Artur Żmijewski. In the studio, we worked collectively and made various actions concerning the internal politics of the art school, as well as letters, paintings, objects and trips.

We kept a digital archive of our activities and made a large catalogue of three volumes. Visit the archive Follow occasional new posts using RSS