Busy

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Michael Sailstorfer Forst (2012)
‘A work that, in its current iteration, consists of three inverted felled trees hanging from a steel framework. Each is attached to a motor that slowly rotates the trees in place at different yet consistent speeds. Branches gently touch the gallery floor as friction and decay cause bits of detritus to slough off, thereby creating circular patterns of needles and bark beneath. This choreography is accompanied by the creaking of the armature, strained by the revolving weight it bears.’

 

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Sun Yuan and Peng Yu Old Persons Home (2007)
‘In Old Persons Home, Sun and Peng’s satirical models of decrepit OAPS look suspiciously familiar to world leaders, long crippled and impotent, left to battle it out in true geriatric style. Placed in electric wheelchairs, the withered, toothless, senile and drooling, are set on a collision course for international conflict as they roll about the gallery at snails pace, crashing into each other at random in a grizzly parody of the U.N. dead.’

 

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Peter Keene et Piet.sO L’ENTRÉE OUVERTE AU PALAIS FERMÉ DU ROI (2017)

 

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Alan Rath Yet Again (2017)

 

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Peter Keene Raoul Hausmann revisited (2004)
‘In a letter to Henri Chopin dated 23 June 1963, Raoul Hausmann wrote: “I would like attract your attention to the fact that since 1922 I have been developing the theory of the optophone, an apparatus that transforms visible forms into sound, and vice versa. I had an English patent, “Procedure for combining numbers on the photoelectric base” which was a variant on this apparatus, and at the same time the first robot. The only thing that kept me from constructing an optophone was money.”

‘The optophone is an instrument imagined and devised by Hausmann, and several versions of it were created a few years later. If the artist did not invent the computer, he did come pretty close to it in his efforts to broaden the frontiers of art by converting sounds into forms and vice versa. Art critic Jacques Donguy, who specialises in sound poetry, and artist Peter Keene, tracked down the patent filed by Hausmann in 1934 and set about turning the robot he conceived into a reality.’

 

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Tim Lewis Pony (2012)

 

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Seiko Mikami Desire of Codes (2011)
‘A matrix of sensors, small lights and surveillance cameras spans the space and follows the movements of visitors. Each movement sets off a response from a whole swarm of small surveillance units, using their lights to point at the body of the visitor. An uneasy dialogue on the ambivalent trust in surveillance systems evolves.’

 

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Giles Walker Peepshow (2008)
‘The project is called Peepshow and consists of two “pole dancing” figures and a DJ. They are all built from scrap with windscreen wiper motors and controlled by wizard boards. At the time of building Peepshow there was a lot of news coverage encouraging the British public to readily accept the huge increase in surveillance cameras. They were everywhere. I wanted to build a piece as a reaction against these mechanical “Peeping Toms” that were appearing on every street corner. Serious research has actually found that better street lighting has a higher chance of reducing crime than CCTV. I chose pole dancers as a subject and gave them CCTV cameras as heads — playing with the concepts of voyeurism and its relationship with power. I also was interested in the challenge of whether I could make a pile of old scrap, sitting in the middle of my workshop, into something sexy.’

 

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David Fried Self Organizing Still-Life [sos] (1998)

 

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Mischa Kuball five planets (2019)

 

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Limee Young Bird (2018)
‘One time, a bird got in through a crack in our roof. I could hear the fluttering of its wings in the cramped rooftop space. Although it was a narrow crack in the roof formed by age, the bird continued flapping its wings for several days, perhaps still believing it could fly. After a few days, I could not hear the bird’s wings any longer. Did the bird die? Or did it survive and escape? I hear the sounds of a struggle to live.’

 

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Ben Tardif Marble Mountain (2016)
‘Marble Mountain is a large marble machine still under construction. It consists of 25 sections that mesh together to form one kinetic sculpture. Every element is themed (or will be upon completion) to an aspect of my life or to something that I find interesting. Some of the elements include a roller coaster, ski jump, Times Square, Lombard Street, and a skatepark. It took 3 years to get to this point of being able to turn it on and watch it go, and I will continue to work on it and get it fully completed.’

 

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David Bowen tele-present water (2011)
‘This installation draws information from the intensity and movement of the water in a remote location. Wave data is being collected and updated from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data buoy station 51003. This station was originally moored 205 nautical miles Southwest of Honolulu on the Pacific. It went adrift and the last report from its moored position was around 04/25/2011. It is still transmitting valid observation data but its exact location is unknown. The wave intensity and frequency collected from the buoy is scaled and transferred to the mechanical grid structure, resulting in a simulation of the physical effects caused by the movement of water from this distant unknown location. This work physically replicates a remote experience and makes observation of the activity of an isolated object, otherwise lost at sea, possible through direct communication.’

 

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Tobias Bradford Cravings (2025)
‘Animated with rudimentary mechanics, Bradford’s works display the repetitive actions characteristic of compulsive behavior.’

 

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John Armleder Voltes IV (2004)

 

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Daniel Wurtzel Various (2009 – 2014)

 

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Christian Moeller Eclipse (2017)

 

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LAb[au] Signal To Noise (2012)
”Signal To Noise’ is a kinetic installation immersing the spectator in patterns of sonic motion, based on generative principles executed by 512 mechanical split-flaps. The expression ‘signal-to-noise’ is a measure used to quantify how much a signal has been lost to noise; it’s a ratio of useful to un-useful information in a data exchange. The works consists of a 3.40 m circular structure, containing 4 horizontal rows of 128 split-flaps at eye height. The external surface exposes the stripped back technology of the split-flaps and driver boards, while the internal surfaces reveal the characters of the split-flaps. The circular installation invites the visitor to plunge into a kinetic composition in the midst of the eternal calculation process of an auto-poetic machine. The split-flaps are constantly spinning on a variable speed/rhythm which is dependent upon on the underlying algorithm, analyzing in the maze of information the appearance of a word-equal-meaning.’

 

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Stefan Radu Cretu Fake Ghost (2019)

 

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Meridith Pingree Raindrop (2010)
‘The shape has nine links. Each link has a turquoise blue transparent plastic reversible motor and two motion sensors. It hangs from the ceiling by its power cord. The wires are fastened together with snappy barrettes.’

 

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Gianni Colombo Spazio elastico (1967)
‘The cubic space of Spazio elastico is completely dark inside: as a result the six planes that define it are completely suppressed. Elastic cords cross this space from ceiling to floor and from one wall to the other, creating a cubic grid. The elastic cords are dyed in a fluorescent color and lit by UV light. They take a minimal part of the space in comparison with the empty space. This orthogonal grid of luminous rays in an otherwise completely dark space prevents the perception of all the other elements in the room. The whole structure moves through the electromechanical action of motors installed outside the environment: they create slow-moving tensions in several points of the grid, with different time cycles. These tensions continuously deform the cubes drawn in space by the cords.’

 

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Rafael Lozano-Hemmer Wavefunction (2007)

 

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Wilfredo Prieto Tied Up to the Table Leg (2011)
‘Tied Up to the Table Leg consists of a helicopter standing still over the roof of the museum during one hour. A rope has been hung from it and, after going down the floors by the stairs, it has been tied up to the leg of a table located on the ground floor.’

 

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Petr Válek Happy to See You (2026)

 

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Alex Allmont Various (2012 – 2019)
‘Until recently I’ve been doing a part time PhD about improvising with polyrhythms and phased rhythms but it’s on hold for lack of funds. In some senses this is for the best as it’s loosened me to focus on my projects including modular synths, performance, LEGO musical machines and installation work.’

 

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Rebecca Horn Untitled (2011)

 

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Hans Haacke Blue Sail (1965)

 

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U-Ram Choe Una Lumino Portentum (2008)
stainless steel, motors, light-emitting diodes, acrylic casting, circuits, custom software, CPU board, motors

 

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Arthur Ganson Thinking Chair (2001)

 

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Benjamin Forster Drawing Machine (Output = Plotter) (2008 – 2012)
‘This is not an investigation of any specific style of drawing, but simply drawing as the act of making marks on a surface; how these marks are made in relation to one another and, most importantly, what knowledge is necessary in order to make such marks. This investigation centres around his attempt to program a computer to draw in a way that is distinctly human, rather than stylistically digital or mechanistic. It is important that his program simulates the human characteristics of drawing because it is exactly the human quality of drawing that he has been attempting to understand. Note: This machine will never produce the same drawing twice.’

 

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William Forsythe Black Flags (2014)
‘Readymade industrial robots, nylon flags, carbon fiber flagpoles, and steel plates, dimensions variable.’

 

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Chris Eckert Mixed Messages (2016)
‘Mixed Messages is and installation of 25 telegraph machines designed and fabricated in my studio while attempting to listen to the news. Each machine clicks out a Morse code twitter feed for some specific news organization: The Associated press, Fox News, BBC, Al Jazeera, etc. The machines provide a constant real-time source of overlapping, conflicting, unintelligible information.’

 

 

*

p.s. Hey. ** Adem Berbic, It’s fun: ‘SbS’. I can’t remember what Larry Cohen’s stuff is like particularly, but there are surely fun things scattered in his oeuvre. I’m wishing I could fill my apartment with Tobias Bradford artworks and close the curtains and cocoon forever therein which would be possible since his stuff is perpetual. ** jay, Exploitation cinema can be quite addictive with only superficial payoff so be careful. Thank you, pal, you’re so kind. I get senior discounts, which kind of freaks me out, but they’re not as generous as you younguns get, which I think is only fair. M.C. Escher, fun. I’m going to an experimental music concert tonight and then an experimental (?) theater piece tomorrow night and then … I forget, but something. ** Dominik, Hi!!! Yeah, the hair and the facial stubble, not a cute combo to say the least. Same here: can there be that many people who need to wear designer clothes when they’re exercising? Guess so. Have a splendid week. I hope there are exciting possibilities at the Nova Rock Festival. Give me a report, and have a total blast! Love commands you!, G. ** Larst, Thanks for the heads up on ‘Obsession’. Good enough. My pleasure, link-wise, buddy. ** Charalampos, Hi from cloudy Paris. I will take an audio peek at the Kim Petras album and see what happens. If that collection happens and if I write new things for it, they’ll be new. An email back … you’re asking for a lot, knowing me. But hey, totally possible. ** _Black_Acrylic, ‘Father Ted’: a hole in my experience that I keep meaning to fill. I think the most exciting aspect is that very young filmmakers are popping out of the woodwork and making films on minimal budgets without corporate overlording and having big hits and that the horror genre is helping make that happen. ** laura w, Yes, the horror genre is proving to be very rangy, and its audience does not appear to be afraid of daring filmmaking. Disneyland Paris is a good park. It’s not up there with Tokyo Disney Sea, which is the best post-Disneyland park, I think, but it’s solid. Actually, the other Paris amusement park Parc Asterix is even better, I think. Thanks about how I forage in my autobiography. That seems to work, but I would never write a memoir, ugh. Thank you about ‘From Here On’. It’s probably no surprise that an earlier version of it was originally intended to be in ‘I Wished’, but I ended up cutting it. Is your week sparkling so far? ** Carsten, So happy to surprise, of course. One of my main blog goals, I will admit. ** Steeqhen, I haven’t seen ‘Fairyland’, but I’m obviously curious to see what it did with the real him and his real life. Compared to 90% of what’s being lauded as daring in current horror films, I think ‘Backrooms’ is pretty rave-worthy. ** Steve, Curious to see your new Spielberg review. It opens here today. Everyone, Steve reviewed Spielberg’s ‘Disclosure Day’ here. Welcome back to your phone. ** DonW, I haven’t seen the Jude ‘Dracula’ either. I’m a bit wary of it, I can’t remember why. Probably some intelligent seeming scathing review. Never been to Romania, no. I’ll forefront it on my travel wish list. Cool, yeah, just let me know when you know re: Paris. I’m pretty sure I’ll be here. I’ll start making a mental list of Paris must-sees. Even in August when things quiet down here, there’ll still be plenty. ** politekid, Oscar! I’m so happy your shit is together. 1) Finished your phd! That’s kind of gigantic. I never got one, but post-phd freedom seems like a lot of freedom. Wow. 2) Your book! Holy shit! I just ordered it! That’s so fantastic, O! That’s so exciting. I can not wait. Everyone, politekid is also named Oscar Nearly, and he is a truly extraordinary writer, guaranteed, and a new book by him is just out, and it’s ‘a prose-poem of obsessive reconstruction’, and it’s called ‘Fragile July’, and it strikes me as imperative that you read it or at the very least go look at the cover and description and read a few excerpts here. That is so dreamy! Oh, you can hit those heights, please. Don’t try to objectify your talent because you can’t. And now you have all — or at least most of — the time in the world to hit them. Go! No, I don’t know that Antonio Moresco book, but it sounds crazy good. Deep Vellum, gotcha. I’ll go order that next. Thank you, thank you, and congrats on so many fronts! ** HaRpEr //, Hi. ‘Spider Baby’ is also very good. I’m totally still maintaining the suspicion of disbelief too. I don’t know how any artist gets anything accomplished if they don’t. Brave to look at your old stuff. I’m having to do that for the possible selected fiction book, and mostly I’m thinking that I wasn’t all that bad for the most part. ** ⋆˚꩜｡darbbzz⋆˚꩜｡, There is, yes. I can’t remember where exactly. Envy on your Busch Gardens trip. Did you ride ‘Verbolten’? That one jumped out at me. I think one would need to make me stand on the edge of a public pool and then shoot me in the head for my body to wind up in that public pool. Tell me how much fun you had and where from!! ** Uday, Hey. Jack Hill is still creaking along. Oh my god, that poem. I forgot about that poem. And that I read it on that record. And that they put sound effects behind it. I dare not listen. But thank you! Wow. ** voskat, I’m glad that my trio of words passed Laura’s test. My goodness, well, a huge thank you to her for that three-line death warding off spell. I have way too much to do to eat it right now. That would suck. I doubt I’m capable of healing vibes, but I’m radiating whatever I’ve got at her. ** Okay. Kineticism. Which isn’t a real word apparently. But you get the point. See you tomorrow.