MASSES

Motors And Stones Searching Equilibrium State

Two stones lie on top of a balanced steel plate. The aim of the machine is to create a perfect equilibrium state by moving the stones to the appropriate positions. In an perpetual process the system succeeds to prevent the imminent divergence again and again by its permanent endeavors, only to intervene somewhere else one moment later. Instead of the pursued state of well-adjusted stability, the work arrives in a permanent state of incessant motion – a fragile but constant situation between fall and float.

The concept was developed during a residency at the European Southern Observatories in Chile. ESO currently runs the largest and most modern ground-based telescopes on earth. Following the degree of precision to which modern research instruments advance, their vulnerability rises and with it the necessity to compensate for even the smallest disturbing influences. Supported by a machinery of sensors and men, the facilities perform an endless dance of observation and calibration.

Size: 125 × 125 × 35 cm

All Photography by Tycho Kilsdonk.