''London Booster'' is an art installation by Czech artist

David Černý David Černý (born 15 December 1967) is a Czech sculptor. His works can be mainly seen in many locations in Prague. Early life Černý was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia. From 1988 to 1994 he studied at the Kurt Gebauer Studio at the Academy ...

. It's a bus fitted with hydraulic arms, allowing it to do push ups, accompanied by audio-visual effects. It was created to celebrate the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

and inspire the Czech Republic Olympic team. It was installed outside the

Business Design Centre The Business Design Centre is a Grade II listed building located between Upper Street and Liverpool Road in the district of Islington in London, England. It was opened in 1862, originally named the Agricultural Hall and from 1884 the Royal Agric ...

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

, which for the duration of the games was transformed into 'Czech House'. Past the Olympics, the bus is publicly located in Prague neighborhood

Chodov Chodov () may refer to places in the Czech Republic: *Chodov (Sokolov District), a town in the Karlovy Vary Region * Chodov (Karlovy Vary District), a municipality and village in the Karlovy Vary Region * Chodov (Domažlice District), a municipalit ...

. It is located in front of the building of

Agrofert Agrofert is a Czech conglomerate holding company headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic. It operates agriculture, food, chemical, construction, logistics, forestry, energy and mass media industries in the European Union and China with over 250 su ...

company of

Andrej Babiš Andrej Babiš (; born 2 September 1954) is a Czech politician and businessman of Slovak descent who served as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from 2017 to 2021. Babis previously served as the Minister of Finance and deputy Prime Minister ...

which was a sponsor of the work (next to the bus stop Benkova). It exercises everyday from 3 to 3:30 PM, except for cold days (below 5°C), rainfall, snow cover or strong wind.

Bus

The bus itself is a 1958

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

Lodekka LD double-decker with

ECW ECW may refer to: Professional wrestling * Extreme Championship Wrestling (originally Eastern Championship Wrestling), a professional wrestling promotion that operated from 1992 to 2001 * The Alliance (professional wrestling) (originally the WCW/E ...

bodywork. Despite being painted red, it never saw use as a London bus - it was new to the Isle of Wight-based operator

Southern Vectis Southern Vectis is a bus operator on the Isle of Wight. The company was founded in 1921 as "Dodson and Campbell" and became the "Vectis Bus Company" in 1923. The company was purchased by the Southern Railway (Great Britain), Southern Railway b ...

, numbered 555, registered ODL 15, and painted in their green livery. After 20 years service it was sold to a dealer who exported it to a museum in the Netherlands. In the 1990s it was sold to a private operator, who returned it to use in the Netherlands as a red liveried corporate hospitality vehicle, registered BE-27-64. Černý sourced it in December 2011 from a Dutch dealer.

References

External links

Video of moving London Booster
on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

{{Coord, 50, 2, 16.97, N, 14, 29, 52.47, E, display=title 2012 establishments in the Czech Republic 2012 sculptures Art vehicles Customised buses Double-decker buses Kinetic sculptures in the Czech Republic Outdoor sculptures in Prague Sculptures of sports Works by Czech people Chodov (Prague)