Every day objects hover a little above their normal positions.
Susceptible to the wind, an occasional fan starts them moving.
Gravity, momentum and cord-twisted energy storage keep them moving long after the fan stops
FLOAT STUFF & SEND ME THE VIDEO…. read on…
Concept
‘Can’t sit still’ is a remotely executed piece based around a process of associative disengagement that draws attention to the ordinarily ‘humdrum’ physical objects with which we surround ourselves. The piece is executed according to simple ‘rules of disengagement’
By physically disengaging and suspending individual artefacts yet maintaining their familiar orientation, we are able to look beyond each element’s quotidian mundanity to expose an alternative, unstable condition of independent movement. Through separation and movement, the piece emphases opposition to each artefact’s every day condition; attachment is replaced with detachment, stasis with movement, familiarity with unfamiliarity, invisibility with gaze-worthiness.
This gaze-worthy re-presentation permits the viewer the opportunity to reconsider the genesis of the object aside of its functionality. In so, he is invited to consider how it came to BE like that. To be aware that there has been inspiration, concept, development and prototyping in pretty much everything we touch most of the time. The artist and designer’s huge experience and influence is manifest in being invisible yet designed to fit our human form and condition.
In celebrating the art of design and championing creatives, this project helps us all appreciate the hidden design industries and designers who like the Higgs Bosun particle, invisibly fill in most of the space between our daily needs and the products that meet them
Description
Any kind of object may be suspended from a ceiling or other strong overhead position and independent of any surface upon which it would usually sit. This makes them capable of various independent movements and activities. A suspended fan creates air currents in the room and causes the objects to gently rotate. The fan runs for several minutes and is then switched off for a prolonged period. Suspended elements will move for at least 10 minutes post-fan, some can go on for 30+ minutes and some may seem to take hours to come to a complete standstill.
Technical
In effect, the objects are virtually frictionless pendulums, efficient in retaining momentum & storing energy that it is slow to be released. Suspended at or near the centre of mass, the artefacts are inherently unstable. Spinning is the primary reaction to the fan but for those elements pivoting close to the centre of mass, movement can be possible in a very wide and dynamic range.
With little friction and poor aerodynamics, even heavy items will be easily set in motion, a puff of air to overcomes inertia. All objects will eventually return to a resting position after the stored energy gathered from the air currents has been expended.
Finding and fixing balance points is a lot of fun and holds a few challenges as you will discover 🙂
[vimeo 76501994 900 600]
=================================================
You Are Invited…
To take part in a unique fun global Arts installation project called ‘Can’t Sit Still’.
Consider this – everything manmade that you have on you or around you was the subject of a designer’s mind, It is the solution to a problem, the relief of a user’s frustration. A studied design, inspired or the result of years of research & testing.
Can’t sit still elevates these objects physically but also in terms of our awareness of the designed nature of the necessary everyday world around us. Through re-presentation of the ‘zoned-out that surrounds us’, it celebrates the unsung work of creatives and design professionals whose creativity and experience create the objects that unseen, meet our everyday needs.
The installation involves suspending objects using fishing line so that they sit a little above the surface on which they usually sit. There is only the cost of fishing line and sticky tape mostly. The artwork may of course be installed to float a complete room or to relocate one place’s objects to another or a gallery space. Equally, and importantly it could be also be executed in your home, under a tree, as a class project in a classroom, your mum’s bathroom, a garden shed, airplane hangar or wherever you wish. Follow three simple ground rules, execute them using your artistic judgement and together we create a global thumbs up to celebrate the unsung but vital design industry talent, a product of which is probably in your hand right now.
Participating
Follow 3 simple ‘Rules’ to recreate the artwork as executive artist.
1. Every article must be suspended from a single point
2. Every article must be able to freely on its own axis
3. Every article must come to rest in its ‘normal orientation’
If you choose to recreate your living room in a gallery space, that’s great! If you want to just ‘float’ the stuff on your kitchen windowsill, go for it! If you want to collect lots of objects to create a hypothetical scene, that’s awesome. If you have 10 minutes or 2 weeks, see what you can do…. It’s simple to do for many objects, but do try to have as many of the visible objects as possible to be floating in the video frame. You just need some fishing line and patience for finding points of balance.
When you are done. take a video & record from still, bring in the fan for a few mins (or blow on smaller setups) to get a few twists started & gain some momentum. Stop the fan / blowing and keep filming until they stop moving. The average object movement time is around 15 minutes and therefore each fan cycle and subsequent spinning episode represents a 15 minutes of fame.
PLEASE NOTE – look at your intended fixing mechanism before you start – plan it out, check it out. Do not pull paint off the walls or pull down ceilings – please do be sensible people!! I take no responsibility.
For tables and large chairs, use bathroom scales and work out what strength of fishing line is needed. 150lb will lift a lot! but 4-8lb is fine for desktop items – We understand if you do not want to drill through your furniture and objects! Move them out of view for the video or tie it in some way as an alternative but does limit the range of movement.
When you have it all shot: Upload your video to one of the main video sites like youtube and send us a link!
– Use #cantsitstill in the title and description if you can
– a link to the Facebook page or this, my personal site would be amazing, thanks.
– I /we would also love to see what you do and how you are constructing your artwork, timelapses, befores and afters…
– If there’s any real interest I’ll build a proper website to showcase the work.
Artistic Engagement
By participating you become part of a global arts event that is worthy of inclusion in any artist’s biography. This is a opportunity for an arts partnership. You are the Executive Artist alongside Originator-Artist Paul Marshall. You rock it, we will tell the world! Thank you!