Zdeněk Sýkora, David Vrbík (CZ) → Tiling of the ventilation towers of the Letenský tunnel in Prague

19:00 - 24:00
  • Satelites
  • Laser projection

About project

Zdeněk Sýkora’s iconic work is an example of the successful implementation of his original artistic system based on the combinatorial principle into architecture. The starting point of this 1969 realisation is the 1967 painting Black and White Structure, made up of a combination of black and white geometric elements. The cladding of the chimneys at Letná is made of glass mosaic, which covers an area of 521 m². The building has been protected as an immovable cultural monument of the Czech Republic since 2003. The black-and-white structure will be animated with laser projections by David Vrbík during the festival evenings.

Signal Satellites are works using digital tools, modelling and construction.  They are works outside the festival itinerary that can be visited at any time. However, during the festival they will come alive with a special lighting program. These works also fit with this year’s festival theme – Ecosystems: Exploration.

About artist

Zdeněk Sýkora was one of the first artists to use the possibilities of computer technology in the process of preparing a work of art. He became a model for many other generations of artists. In 1945, he began studying art education and descriptive geometry at the College of Architecture and Civil Engineering of the Czech Technical University. The course was soon transferred to the Faculty of Education at Charles University, where Sýkora worked as an assistant from 1947 and as an associate professor from 1966-1980. From the 1960s he also taught art education at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University. He gradually progressed from landscape to abstraction, and in 1964, in collaboration with mathematician Jaroslav Blažek, he created the first programmed structures using a computer. From 1973 he developed a completely new system based on randomness, which was the basis of line paintings. He appeared at major international exhibitions of constructive art, and his works are represented in many international and Czech collections. His painting Line No. 24 became part of the permanent exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris in 2007. Zdeněk Sýkora died in Louny in 2011.

The audiovisual artist David Vrbík began his creative career in music. He is a founding member of the dance company TOW, which has appealed to the dance community with its approach to technology, especially the synchronization of audio, lights and laser projections. In 2004, together with Vladimir 518, he founded the multi-genre project SPAM, where he explores the possibilities of audiovisual language. Since 2019, he has been working on his V E K T R O S K O P, in which he addresses artists from the domestic and international digital art scene.

Supported by

  • Supported by

    TSK

  • Supported by

    Panasonic Connect

  • Supported by

    KVANT