Kristek House

Kristek House
Kristkův dům
Map
General information
AddressTišnovská 77, 613 00 Brno
Town or cityBrno
CountryCzech Republic
Coordinates49°12′37″N 16°37′31″E / 49.21028°N 16.62528°E / 49.21028; 16.62528
Design and construction
Architect(s)Lubo Kristek

Kristek House (Czech: Kristkův dům) is a building on the corner of Tišnovská and Trávníky Streets in Brno, Czech Republic that was transformed into a monumental assemblage by the Czech sculptor, painter and action artist Lubo Kristek. Kristek created the work between 2015 and 2017.[1]

Description

Sisyphus' Time Machine at the Kristek House

A main feature of the house is a surrealist-inspired clock based on the Myth of Sisyphus. Kristek was inspired by Albert Camus and his Myth of Sisyphus and by the ideas of George Voskovec recorded on the LP Relativně Vzato.[2][3]

The clockwork was designed and constructed especially for this purpose by the Elekon company (Vyškov), a specialist in public clocks.[4] The system provides exact time and incorporates a changeover to winter time.[5]

Another aspect of Kristek House is a railway line is painted on the façade and incorporated into one of the artist's important symbols – the heavenly highway. This symbol can be found already in his painting The Heavenly Highway of Aunt Fränzi (1974) that is today part of the collection of Neues Stadtmuseum in Landsberg am Lech.[6] train from Kristek's childhood, the former Brno-Tišnov railway line (in Czech: Tišnovka).[7]

At the corner of the house two large sculptures of golden hands rise, their palms turned upwards. The hands also protect the living tree and together represent the central symbol of the monumental assemblage.[5]

Kristek House was the set for the films Ab ovo and Sisyphiade.[8]

References

  1. ^ Homola, Miroslav (5 December 2017). "Kristkův Sisyfos si užívá na stěně domu každou hodinu ve čtvrt". Novinky.cz (in Czech). Borgis. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  2. ^ Voskovec, Jiří (1975). Relativně Vzato (Vinyl, LP, Mono) (in Czech). USA: Kampa Disc Productions, Inc.
  3. ^ "Surrealistický dům Luba Kristka v Brně". Kudyznudy.cz (in Czech). Czech Tourism. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  4. ^ Elekon Certificate
  5. ^ a b Kristkův dům (Television production) (in Czech). Btv. 2 February 2018. Archived from the original on 7 February 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  6. ^ Půtová, Barbora (2018). "Chapter: Stations of the Glyptotheque – Introduction". Kristek Thaya Glyptotheque (1st ed.). Research Institute of Communication in Art. ISBN 9788090554832. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  7. ^ "Umělec surrealisticky vyzdobil dům". Idnes.cz (in Czech). ČTK. 5 December 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  8. ^ "Dům performera Kristka bude dějištěm filmu". Ceskatelevize.cz (in Czech). Česká televize. 6 December 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2018.