jiří příhoda shapes a home theatrical stage in austin, texas as an extraterrestrial object

in the suburbs of austin, texas, jiří příhoda
 decided to modify one of his sculptural architecture models into a home theatrical stage for a family to outlast the pandemic lockdowns. set in in the garden of a family home, the stage has been designed and built in a way to give its ‘actors’, who perform for no visitors, a private and professional backdrop. the intimacy of the theatrical stage is underlined by its placement behind the main house, with its stage facing into the unkempt neighborhood yards, full of impenetrable bush and forgotten old shacks.

titled ‘2021: a time odyssey’, příhoda
 has designed the stage view to look like an extraterrestrial object due to its minimalist shape, and exterior, light-mirroring, aluminum surface. its shape is created on a geometric base of two merged-together quarter cylinders -– one orientated vertically and the other horizontally. both of the cylinders end in a way to create an exact square frame of the stage. this frame and its ceiling and walls creates a shell-like internal space with its uncovered, white painted, stud framing. the stage can also be modified into a two-sided open version, where the theatrical play can be performed in front of the main homes windows to be viewed by quarantined family member inside.

příhoda
 chose to paraphrase kubrick’s ‘2001: a space odyssey’ film title to rise questions such as – ‘will our pandemic time be ‘the touch of the black monolith’ to progress our ways of behavior and critical thinking about ourselves and about our environment?’. the title also suggests the strange character and feeling of stalled time during the yearlong lockdown, which in some moments seems to last just weeks and at others, forever…

project info:

project name: 2021: A TIME ODYSSEY 

author: jiří příhoda

object type: theatrical stage

location: austin, texas

dimensions: w. 488cm, h. 488cm, l. 518cm
interior floor area: 20.3m2 of the stage floor
construction/materials: wood studs, plywood, R-Matte boards with Aluminum facer, white paint, steel string and hardwae