Gravity

As a result of 'reducing' down I have been considering more arrangements and forms.

Firstly, I arranged the screws in a rough sphere, the largest in the middle. This gives the shape the illusion of density, and I feel is expressive of a gravitational pull - it makes me think of the early stages of the formation of a planet, wherein larger masses converge, and as they grow they pull in smaller pieces.

I then neatened the edge, and pulled the larger pieces away from the centre. Whether the simile of the formation of a planet could be extended here is questionable - I feel that it has taken a step away from the larger scale.

                                     

However, with the addition of this next picture (showing that I have decreased the circumference of the outer circle, pulling the larger screws once more into the centre) I have created a sense of narrative - when displaying the pictures in sequence it becomes clear that there is some kind of process occurring.

                                     

And the final piece in the narrative brings my mind back once more to the formation of a planet, however now it is the final stage - wherein the gravitational pull has formed a roughly spherical shape enveloping the central force, larger, simpler components towards the middle, whilst the outer layers are more complex.

What is interesting about this comparison to me is how trivial the arrangement truly is - both of the screws and of the creation of planets, and how one is larger to the extent that the human mind cannot entirely comprehend it. Also I greatly love how neat it seems - the screws from a typewriter arranged in a very different way, still managing to help create a story.

I find that when I have the concept of planets and solar systems so clear in my mind when observing the screws, I stop seeing them as screws and they become symbols. I think that it is easy, when looking at photographs, to forget about scale. In order to bring reality closer, I arranged the screws around my outstretched hand.

I think that having this image afterwards does help to bring the real world closer, and then at once I realise that I don't want the real world to be closer. The symbol of the hand is yet another reminder to me that this is a pile of screws on a table, its something physical and trivial that I have done, and it's right there - temporary and practically meaningless. Whilst it may turn the story towards me, towards the human inventor or worker, I find the formation of the universe to be such a hugely magical idea that anything following seems dull.

Perhaps, if we make this the final piece of the narrative, it could be taken as a statement of the human impact on the planet - there is no sphere left, as I used the screws to make the shape. With enough human meddling, will we destroy the planet? I think it's a fair point, if a point made incredibly frequently to the extent that it's cliché.

Of course, this all rests on the assumption that when faced with the original picture, everybody thinks of the science behind the birth of planets, which seems fragile.

Reduction

Following the line of development, I've decided that 'Reduction' is a suitable title for this series of work that I've been producing.

Because, logically, 'reducing' the form of these objects is exactly what I am doing. From the moment in the Catalysts project when I decided to deconstruct the CD player, I was reducing it's form to simply the screws. Whether or not this action has any particular meaning can still be debated - I prescribed no meaning to it besides 'destruction' when I started, and only later did I contemplate what it could have signified.

After developing a pattern of behaviours (find item, unscrew item, glue screws together, bin mess, rinse, repeat...) I felt that I was making no progress. Whilst I had very much enjoyed reducing these items, I've simply ended up with a collection of reduced forms, and how can I change that? How can I possibly continue without getting bored? Once you establish routine, you normalise the forms and from that point on it becomes repetitive and dull.

In an attempt to explore the other possible forms, I've totally avoided the super glue. Below are the screws found in a broken typewriter I liberated from my local dump. 

I laid them out neatly on an A4 sheet - it occurred to me later that this was fairly ironic, as a white A4 sheet of paper may be exactly what we put in the typewriter, so the presentation forms what is almost a parody of the destroyed function. 

In addition to the screws, an interesting metal form was found as part of the leverage to pull the letters to print the page. These little hooks were a vital part of the structural tension of the typewriter. After I sorted them out by their specific shape and curvature, I photographed them on an A4 page of my sketchbook. I decided to glue them in, in exactly this form, as I found it aesthetically pleasing.

To progress with the screws, I researched into forms of kinetic sculpture - the antithesis of the static sculptures I had created. I also had wanted to try fixing the screws together using some other medium, so I tied them together with string. Unfortunately within moments the strands became tangled, and the string was too fragile to pull it all apart. 

To recover this, I did nothing.

Instead, I simply experimented with the mess that I had. If I stretch it out it looks like fruit on branches. If I shove it all in a bunch in the middle then it looks more dense, as it occupies space on the page in a shape that we can understand more easily.

By changing the shape, I can change the perception of the mass present.

The last image shown above is the string left over after removing the screws. I'm not sure if I like it, mostly because it was born out of a deep frustration and untying all the knots hurt my fingers. Also quite frankly the string bundled up looks strangely reminiscent of noodles, and any significance in the transformation of the space/mass is lost in the viewer thinking of noodles.

So I feel like I've reached a dead end here, unless I want to bring new materials into the mix. 

With the screws now separate, I decided to fix them together with a piece of wire. Here they are in the chain created.

This now appears as some awful crack through the white image. It's also a much more awkward shape to display, and creates a larger volume of space around it in the image.

I don't know what line of thinking I wish to develop - whether I consider new materials and continue reducing (but by introducing something 'new' this seems to have shot itself in the foot already) or start reducing another object in hope that I will discover an idea that I believe is suitable for the project.