BALANCE | THE WEIGHT OF LIGHT

BALANCE | THE WEIGHT OF LIGHT - SITE-SPECIFIC SCULPTURE - 24 x 144 x 132” - CARVED WALNUT, GRANITE ROCK WALL, STEEL BALANCING STRUCTURE - 2021

Departing from the familiar form of the see-saw, the intimate traces of the body carved in wood invite a choreography of distance and re-connection, and of how ones effort might offer another lightness and rest.

As an interactive and immersive sculpture, it offers a physical exploration and choreographic actions of a see-saw or balance. Carved into a 100 year old Black Walnut Board, from one side features the ergonomic traces of the human form at rest, and on the opposite end, the impression of sitting form and the spine serve as a 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 an aged rock wall covered in Lichen, found on site, from stone fieldstone walls that are a feature of the landscape on the grounds of I-Park in East Haddam Connecticut. A hidden steel structure with ball-bearings 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 both participants to rest in the levitation offered by that effort.