Kristek House

Kristek House, located at the corner of Tišnovská and Trávníky streets, has been transformed by the sculptor, painter, and action artist Lubo Kristek into a monumental residential assemblage. 

The house was inspired by Albert Camus' myth of Sisyphus and by the Czech emigré actor Jiří Voskovec, whom Kristek met in the 1970s in Los Angeles during his American exhibition tour. Kristek creativelz developed the theme of the fate of Sisyphus, enriching it with relativity, a highway in the heavens (evoking the now defunct Tišnovka railway line, which Kristek experienced as a child when he lived on Tišnovská street), and the symbol ab ovo (from the beginning). The dominant feature of the monumental assemblage is the golden hands reaching to the sky and protecting a living tree. The clock, specially designed for Sisyphus' time machine, was created by Elekon, a company specializing in tower and façade clocks. The system ensures accurate timekeeping and changes time automatically. Particularly interesting is the transition from summer to winter time. The author regards the house as a living, ever-changing being. 

In 2022, the digital platform Google Arts & Culture prepared an online exhibition of Czech art treasures. Kristek House and its story is part of this exhibition, which includes not only the object itself but also visitors to the house and events associated with it, who thus enter into history.