Localisation: Hluboká Castle grounds – near the Riding Hall
The group of sculptures represents three large insects: two beetles and one bush-cricket. The objects stand on the grass by Hluboká Castle, near the riding hall. They are much larger than real insects. Their scale means that one can look at them like inhabitants of the grass seen from very close up. As if someone had shrunk a human being to the size of an ant and allowed them to meet the bugs eye to eye.
The sculptures are made of concrete, ceramic mosaic and little steel legs. Concrete forms the massive, rounded bodies of the insects. Ceramic mosaic covers their backs, heads and abdomens with small, round elements. The little steel legs are black, thin and bent. Thanks to them, the insects do not lie directly on the ground, but stand low above the grass.
The two beetles, which stand close to each other, attract the most attention. They look as if they have come out to meet one another. One is heading towards the castle, while the other is going in the opposite direction. The insects have low, broad bodies about one and a half metres long. Each of them consists of a large, convex abdomen and a smaller head. The abdomens have the form of high, rounded domes. Their shape resembles a shell or a carapace. They are rounded on all sides and fall softly towards the ground.
The surface of the beetles is covered with hundreds of small, round ceramic tiles. The tiles resemble buttons, bottle caps or small mosaic elements. They are arranged densely, in even rows. From close up, individual circles are visible. From a greater distance, they arrange themselves into stripes, rhythms and patterns on the carapace.
The beetles’ heads are lower and smaller than their abdomens. They are strongly rounded and project from the front of the body. On the sides of the head there are convex, red fields. They can be read as eyes. They are intense, round and immediately attract attention.
Each beetle stands on six black legs. The legs are thin, metal and strongly bent. They come out from underneath the body and hold it above the grass. They are not naturalistically developed. They resemble black, bent rods rather than legs. Their ends touch the ground at points. Because of this, the insects look light, even though their concrete bodies are large and heavy.
Both beetles have ceramic decorations. Their bodies are painted in similar arrangements, but in different colours. The abdomens are decorated with stripes. In one beetle they are beige and green. In the other — gold and red. The front parts of the carapaces in both beetles are decorated with uniform planes of colour, and the heads are also monochromatic. The first beetle has a beige carapace and a green head, while the second has a red carapace and a golden head.
The third insect in the group is a bush-cricket. It has a longer, slimmer body than the beetles. Its form is stretched more horizontally. The most important elements here are the long legs, especially the hind ones, adapted for jumping. Unlike the beetles, which look like low domes on little legs, the bush-cricket has a more linear, elongated silhouette. It is rather a sculptural image of an insect, showing its most recognisable features: an elongated body, strong legs, lightness and readiness to jump. In combination with the two beetles, it creates a third, different type of inhabitant of the grass. The bush-cricket is decorated with metallic colours – silver on the front part of the body and gold on the abdomen. The bush-cricket’s eyes have the same colour as the beetles’ – they are red.
Each of the creatures can be walked around. One can compare their shapes and count the ceramic dots on their carapaces. The organisers of Umění ve Městě encourage visitors to “let yourself be carried on the back of a little bug and discover life in the grass from another perspective”.