Matter, elementary law, man and public space are the imaginary points defining the content framework of Matej Al-Ali’s artistic works. In terms of type of artistic expression, it is dominated by objects, installations, photography, video and performance. On closer examination of the levels of meaning, we find several themes: the relationship between matter and process and their mental reflection; the possibilities of transferring the mechanics of simple physical laws into the space of group relationality; the demonstration of the principles of human thought/action based on elementary mechanisms; games with material, the absurdities of matter, material substitution; or, for example, a critical reflection on the effect of technical images. Matej Al-Ali – inspired by Jan Gehl’s thesis “Something happens because something happens.” – opens up public space for collaborative activities, having interest in the liveliness of the process of constant change. At the same time, he thematises the inexorability of the passage of time, as every material object tends towards its disappearance /transformation, and many times it is only this final point that awakens our attention. In his kinetic installation for the Kladno railway station he works with the form of an iron mast: “A mast that we have forgotten. It is still there, but we no longer perceive it. Like time that passes us by, that flows. What was and what will be? And what is now? I’m standing at a train station with things of the past in my bag, thinking about things of the future. Stopping doesn’t necessarily mean resignation. Rather, it means taking a breath and concentrating.” And he builds a mechanism into the inside of the mast to slowly grind away a sandstone block: “This hourglass refers to time spent in the present, while we watch the past being poured into the future. From one state to another, the passing of time. Passing with every grain and every atom.” (MA-A, 2021)