BALANCE | AS WAVES NEED SHORES

BALANCE | AS WAVES NEED SHORES - SITE-SPECIFIC SCULPTURE - 30 x 144 x 138” - CARVED WHITE OAK, FLAGSTONE, STEEL PIVOT UNDERSTRUCTURE - 2023

Departing from the familiar form of the see-saw, the intimate traces of the body carved in wood invite a choreography of balance and connection.

As an interactive and immersive sculpture, it offers a physical exploration and choreographic actions of a see-saw or balance. Carved from a slab of White Oak, it features the ergonomic traces of the human form at rest, and reaching toward the center in counterbalance. The piece can be encountered from both ends in the more familiar way of balancing, or they can attempt to follow the choreography of the markings that reach towards the center across the wall, and into a new mutually cooperative and intimate balance.

The body of carved the wood piece is balanced on a flagstone rock wall. A hidden steel structure with ball-bearings and springs bears the actual weight and dynamic workings of the sculpture.

INTERACTION - When encountered and activated by participants, it engages touch and a physical sharing of weight, becoming an intuitive choreography of active response. Ideally one can adapt their body to maintain balance can hold the space for the other or come together towards the center.

Movement Improvisation with Nneka Kai and Benjamin Heller (2:00)
Interactive Sculpture - Created and Installed at Sculpture Space, Inc in Utica, New York.

The project was made possible with grant funding from the NYSCA New York State Council for the Arts.