Portál Pražana
Lukáš Rittstein’s works at the Sculpture Line festival
The Sculpture Line is a festival that transforms squares, streets, parks and other public spaces into open-air galleries. The festival is taking place in Prague and other Czech cities and towns for the sixth time. Sculpture Line is the largest event in the Czech Republic that supports the connection between sculpture and public space and, in doing so, expands the cultural and artistic potential of public spaces, bringing emotion into public spaces and exploring new possibilities. The main idea of the long-term art project is to introduce contemporary art to both residents and tourists, and to enhance the social function of public spaces.
Expeditions to the rainforests to meet indigenous people
Sixteen installations by various artists can currently be seen in Prague and the surrounding areas. We had a closer look at two artworks by the Czech sculptor Lukáš Rittstein. The first can be found in front of the ČEZ building in Duhová Street in Prague 4, the second in the vicinity of the Celtic Park in Dolní Břežany.
His adventurous expeditions to the rainforests had a great influence on Rittstein’s work, which is distinct due to his abstract sculptures.
In recent years, the artist has primarily focused on shapes evoking simple organisms, whose structure are disrupted by cylindrical objects resembling pipes, products of industrial civilization.
Shining
The work called ‘Shining’ can be found at the entrance to the administrative building E of the ČEZ company in Duhová Street. The artist describes this laminate installation, which is a part of his series ‘Forest’ which he worked on a decade ago, as being struck by a meteorite.
Sweet dreams and the environment
‘Sweet Dreams’ is another sculpture from the same series. It can be found in Dolní Břežany. “It is interesting that there is a kind of a moment of rigidity in it - it clings to the pipe like a koala bear, and even like a man clings to something. At the same time, there is a moment of movement in it, its hair is disrupted as if blown by God’s breeze”, the artist describes his work with a hidden ecological meaning. He shares that it is no coincidence that he used fire hoses and pipes to create the statue’s ‘hair’: “It is about clean and dirty water, about the connection between earth and heaven and existence on this planet.”
Further information, including a map of artworks, can be found at: https://www.sculptureline.cz/en.