Metal Trail

Since the fifth annual symposium, the organiser has played with the idea of an artwork that moves and is powered by wind – a kinetic artwork. We searched on the internet, trying to find an artist who could create a kinetic artwork from metal, and we came across the webpages of Jim Lapaso from the US. Our decision was instant, and we sent an invitation by e-mail.

We had to wait for his response for a while. As we found out later, he was on holiday when the e-mail arrived and even after reading our e-mail, he was unsure whether it was spam or a joke. Having consulted his wife, he decided to respond because they had never been to Europe. In his response, he asked whether he should send his proposals so that we could select the appropriate artist. We responded that he had been selected already and we only needed his proposals so that we could promote our event and purchase the necessary material and tools.

He was overjoyed and promised to attend. However, because of his advanced age, he could not weld and polish large surfaces for a long time. In other words, he needed an assistant who would help him with this. Although we had previously rejected artists’ requests for assistants, the vision of a kinetic artwork powered by wind was too tempting. Finding an assistant was not easy. We contacted the artist who created a magnificent lion as the Czech emblem at the symposium in 2015 and he was willing to help. All obstacles had thus been resolved. When Jim Lapaso arrived at the airport, we found out that he had the respectable age of 75 years.

Jim Lapaso informed us about everything he would need, and what we should buy. Still, he wanted to bring a lot of his own items because he felt unsure whether we would be able to find everything he needed. This included various scoops, glass plates, etc. We introduced Václav Holer to Jim Lapaso on Monday morning at the beginning of the symposium and they successfully created the artwork despite the language barrier. Their technical knowledge and skills were self-explanatory, and one could see that two artists can understand each other, no matter where they come from. Within one week, Jim Lapaso and Válav Holer created a beautiful statue called The Wings. This first kinetic artwork meets the organisers expectations for making the symposium even more diverse. Jim Lapaso described the Metal Symposium as a great experience and promised that if he were to return to Europe one day, it would be to visit the Metal Symposium.

Find the artwork on GPS 50.4071650N, 14.9218492E

For more information on this artist see:

http://lapaso.com/

https://www.facebook.com/jim.lapaso?__tn__=%2CdlC-R-R&eid=ARD6ta3kxu3-kseRStvBaLBBbkAJw6-W-GN0bvZ4as-jh0xcARsO4GyD2SLRMy5yeHr8F2iPDp5UEqm5&hc_ref=ARRdh0j0xoNngj1NQVajfBq-v0YFDZVNrRepn4in5CcJ5yVqsQH3hg73w-0unViWWPc