Origami, 2002

Ronne Hui
Origami, 2002
Installation view

Overview

Gossamer Feather-Light Aircraft/Heavyweight Wooden, Stony and Metallic Bird.

1. To begin with, around middle axle spokes turn, both middle axle and spokes are inside the outer rim of runaway flywheel. All three of them - middle axle, spokes and outer rim of flywheel climb up and down, along back and front of every single rung on unattended stepladder. When middle axle, spokes and outer rim of flywheel rest to take a break, every single rung on the stepladder slides back and forth.

2. At the drop of a hat, gaming arcade pellets, each (only one of so many others) are fired and shot out of cannons, pushed and thrown about by players competing in a tournament, getting dropped right in at the deep end, landing on any given point. There is another reason for all this, the arcade pellets serve the purpose of decision-making and option¬finalisation in matters of air clearance, water testing, new ground breaking and board walking. Also, secret wishes are made hopefully bringing good luck before sending the game ammunition on its way. Wherever pellet gun ammunition gets stationed, revolving door watermills greet them so that they can enter - and even jump to and fro by themselves, on their own accord and with free will.

3. With time the middle axle, spokes and outer rim on flywheel gradually straighten out and become increasingly geometric, constantly coming apart, falling into pieces then put back together again; every single rung on stepladder (as well as the supports at either side) curves goes wavy, eventually completely bending over backwards until both top and base reach to meet and join up in a ring, forming a perfectly round unbroken circle. Teamwork between the two continues as middle axle, spokes and outer rim of the flywheel stand to attention, almost motionlessly still, sometimes quivering slightly or running on the spot, but never simply riding; changing from being on top of and underneath every single rung on stepladder, spinning ever faster, reaching breakneck speeds.

4. The missing link that these seemingly unrelated developments hold in common is the use of precious metals and lapidary jewellery cogs, moving loose without attachments to anything at all.

A chance driven perpetual motion machine, prominently on show exclusively in window displays appearing at and available as all goods but in only the very best of chi: upmarket department - stores everywhere.

©Doug/as Park 2003

There is a moment that could be likened to that in the photographic printing technique of solarization when an image is "fogged". It is between the moment of something disappearing and that which comes to take its place. In solarization the image disappearing blurs into a silvery blackness, only to resurface slowly moments later. However, the likeness of the newer image, though always still recognizable, is also completely unpredictable. Strange and unfamiliar black and white is no longer as it was. Is this moment one of loss or expectation? Is this the sense of disappearance or something other that is still yet to appear?

“… space is not a reflection of society, it is its expression. In other words: space is not a photocopy of society, it is society. Spatial forms and processes are formed by the dynamics of the overall social structure."

Manuel Castelli

Alongside the changing architectures of 21st Century cities shifts are taking place in notions of belonging and identity. The increasing 0circulation of people, products and information generates new modes in the architectures of the self and the city. Personal experiences, now more than ever are accompanied by a constant exposure and continuous influx to the information surrounding us which radiates across the globe and the propensity for movement, travel and migration between individuals and communities continues to rise. In the current acceleration in the urbanization of space, everyday places and buildings, even those of the gallery are changing from places once of being to spaces to pass through, guided from entrance to exit through a predetermined pathway of corridors and passageways, overhead announcements and audio guides. Cities are transformed from bricks and mortar to a continuously shifting currency of electronic signs. The cultural and geographical boundaries that are now dissolving re-establish an East and West that in many aspects becomes interchangeable. Landscapes that were once places of belonging become metaphors for a memory that may never have been experienced firsthand. This meta-reality is one of displaced familiarity experienced with disengagement, and yet there is an estranged distance which is more real than real.

A house where I go alone calling
A name that silence and the walls give back to me A strange house contained in my voice
Inhabited by the wind
I invent it, my hands draw a cloud
A heaven-bound ship above the forests Mist that scatters and disappears
As 111 the play of images.
(The public domain, Pierre Seghers)

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