The lawn has changed the whole area between the New Scene and the National Theatre beyond recognition. The project is called Art Meets the (P.R.A.H.A.) Streets; the City of Prague supported it with a grant. It is an interactive installation, so the lawn as well as the objects on it can actually be used. The project has already taken place in Paris (2009) and in Vienna (2010).
Aliens and Herons or about Chewing-gum
The project integrates the whole area including the statue by J. Malejovský, which has been altered a great deal. It has turned pink and was renamed the Chewing-gum. This is actually what skaters that sometimes use the piazzetta call it. The author of this sculptural intervention is a young artist Pavel Karous and the New Eternity group, which temporarily alters statues from the 1970’s and 80’s.
He consulted his intervention with the still living co-author of the statue, who had no objections to it. The statue will take its original shape after the project has finished in the middle of September. Helena Sequensová and Adam Stanko also contributed to the alteration of the statue.
Inspired by the Strugacky brothers
The Picnic installation at the New Scene was created on the impulse of the New Scene of the National Theatre and the Roháč Stratil Studio. The project was then enrolled into the City Intervention Prague 2010 appeal and it is one of the 80 projects that were exhibited in the DOX centre.
“It is another one of the series of experiments that tries to bring to life the sometimes too calm area of the piazzetta of the National Theatre. What is more, picnics are an activity that does not threaten passers-by, something that cannot be said about sports usually carried out in the place,” said the Director of the New Scene, Štěpán Kubišta. The three interactive objects by Antonín Jirát were inspired by the classical sci-fi by the Strugacky brothers bearing the title of the Roadside Picnic.
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