Absolute Glass Machine of Life 1976

Editor: This intriguing oil painting, "Absolute Glass Machine of Life" by Lubo Kristek, completed in 1976, strikes me as strangely unsettling. The divided portraits, the almost mechanical instruments...it's quite a blend. What's your perspective on this unusual piece? Curator: Look at how Kristek is forcing a collision between human and manufactured forms. The ‘machine’ aspect isn’t just represented through mechanical imagery, it’s embedded in the very process. How do you think his specific use of oil paint as a medium, chosen versus any other substance affects this representation? Editor: That's interesting! Oil paint gives a certain weight and texture; I hadn't thought of that decision specifically. Maybe its slowness and viscosity mirrors the construction and labour inherent in the idea of a machine? Curator: Precisely! Think about the implications of mass production versus handcrafted art. Where do you see this tension manifesting within Kristek’s technique? Editor: Perhaps in the meticulous detail alongside the almost dreamlike imagery, which is quite a dichotomy? He meticulously paints very surreal themes. The almost photo-realistic painting of Da Vinci’s ‘Mona Lisa’ with the hyper-strange sculpture in the center clash greatly, although done with such talent it resolves perfectly. It gives this uncanny and sinister vibe. Curator: Consider how the artist’s own socio-economic surroundings might contribute to these themes? Labor disputes perhaps, mass-production, over-consumption and the artist speaking against the cultural changes from his canvas and his own commentary, quite literally! Editor: So, rather than simply depicting a scene, Kristek seems to be critiquing and grappling with his cultural conditions using his medium and subject matter as his own form of dialogue! Thank you for that, I will see paintings in such a different light. Curator: Yes, understanding the socio-economic inputs in an artist’s creative labor gives their work more substance. Thank you, that was refreshing.