The Marriage of Mathematics and Handiwork

The installations were assembled based on a formal computer-generated blueprint and then fine-tuned, so that the viewer’s brain could really perceive the bubbled constellation as a portrait.

Game of Dots

Bubble-shaping is based on a simple dotting principle. It reminds a game, where the child connects the dots on paper to reveal the picture.

People of Karlín

These “glass paintings” show the faces of the Austrian Empress consort Caroline Augusta of Bavaria, the inventor František Křižík, the legendary Czech industrialist Emil Kolben and the actress Olga Scheinpfluge.

People of Karlín

The Empress gave Karlín its name and Olga Scheinpfluge was inspired on the streets of this neighborhood for writing her famous novel. Kolben built an industrial compound where now stands Forum Karlín, while so-called “Czech Edison” had his busting enterprise just blocks away.

The story behind the light

Molecules

The primary impulse was the image of chemical molecules that are all around us. "Glass bubbles resemble round shapes commonly found in nature, whether we talk about dew drops in the grass or the planets," says Maxim Velcovsky.

From sculptures to portraits

Velčovský has been creating sculptures and light installations from similar glass bubbles in the past. The same components were used for the Diver installation in South Korea’s Lotte World Tower, or the three-part sculpture in Prague’s Quadrio shopping center.

Components

Over three thousand glass bubbles had to be made for the making of each portrait. They were then placed on the interior walls, and assembled into a seemingly random constellation of dots which, upon closer look, show a concrete image.