Naděžda's Chord in the Landscape Naděžda's Chord in the Landscape (1996–1997) by Lubo KristekResearch Institute of Communication in Art
"Naděžda's Chord in the Landscape"
The upbringing of Kristek’s mother Naděžda left a deep musical imprint in his mind – an atonal formation consisting of nine tones that he named after her.
Naděžda’s Chord in a painting
Naděžda’s Chord sounded in his head so insistently that Kristek had to process it, otherwise it would have driven him mad. Firstly, it appeared in the painting Naděžda’s Chord in the Landscape.
Love in circulo vitioso in finito secundi milenii (Landsberg am Lech) Love in circulo vitioso in finito secundi milenii (Landsberg am Lech) by Lubo KristekResearch Institute of Communication in Art
Musical form of Naděžda’s Chord
Then he used the chord in its musical form, performed by a symphonic orchestra, in the double-happening Love in circulo vitioso in finito secondi milenii in 1998.
Naděžda’s Chord (1997–2014) by Lubo KristekResearch Institute of Communication in Art
Naděžda’s Chord in sculpture
In 1997–2014, Kristek created Naděžda’s Chord in sculpture.
He immortalized his personal Petrof piano, which he carried with him all around the world since his youth. After its lifelong pilgrimage, Kristek wrapped the piano in bronze sheets and made it part of the sculpture.
Out of the body of the piano, tones of wood covered in bronze are rising, interlacing into a chord.
Naděžda's Chord in the Landscape Naděžda's Chord in the Landscape (1996–1997) by Lubo KristekResearch Institute of Communication in Art
The concept of Naděžda’s chord is based on Kristek’s philosophy that perfect harmony is already in its final state, and therefore new ideas may originate only from chaos of disharmony.
In the painting Naděžda’s Chord in the Landscape, a plasmatic pulsating formation pushes its way from the piano under the baton of a bandaged conductor .
As a child, Kristek often secretly conducted his own imaginary orchestra in the loft of his parents’ house.
The bandages are also related to the artist’s childhood. When his allergy flared up, he had to suffer from his mother’s bandaging so that he would not scratch himself.
During his summer allergies, he was ‘dying’ from the lack of oxygen every year, and then he was reborn again. It is apparently from here that his fascination with the principle of death and rebirth stems.
The archive photo shows Lubo Kristek with the bandages and his mother Naděžda.
Space of Soul (12 December 1992)Research Institute of Communication in Art
In his happenings, the bandaged figure represents an illness, but also the possible healing process that results in curing.
Space of Soul (12 December 1992)Research Institute of Communication in Art
In the happening Space of Soul (1992), Kristek appeared in the bandages and was taken down from the cross by the symbolic figures.
Space of Soul (12 December 1992)Research Institute of Communication in Art
In Medizin + Kunst magazine, Johanna Kerschner wrote: Lubo Kristek searches to open new spaces, he tries to vibrate unknown strings of the viewer’s soul, and the aim of his performance pieces is to mentally overcome, by the force of artistic creation and intuition, even death.
