Open-air sculptures in Prague's Vršovice district repurpose found wood

One small park in Prague hosts the open-air ProLuka art gallery. People passing through Bezručovy sady in Prague’s Vršovice district can see the cryptically named . . . _ _ _ . . . by sculptor Lukáš Procházka.

Most new exhibitions have an official opening, and this one will too. The artist will personally present his piece in the park on Thursday, March 30, at 6 p.m. But if you can’t make it to the opening, the work will be out in the open for the coming months.

Procházka’s sculpture is composed of collected driftwood that washed up from a river. This wood quietly tells the story of its journey from one place to another. The piece looks like it was made by a castaway trying to save himself from a deserted island by attracting the attention of pilots in passing airplanes.

In this case, however, the sign is in an urban area. Instead of pilots, it is aimed at attracting the attention of people in the surrounding apartment buildings.

The work reflects the paradoxical nature of big cities, where there is a high concentration of people, but one can still easily find oneself in a lonely situation.

The main themes of Procházka’s work are observation and intervention in public space, where he mainly notices ephemeral phenomena.