• Photo: Ronald Smits

  • Photo: Ronald Smits

  • Photo courtesy of DRIFT

Amplitude

A Moving Installation

Materials: brass, borosilicate glass, robotics, stainless steel
Measures installation: 4.6 cm x 306.5 cm (1-13/16″ x 10′ 11/16″)

Amplitude is a moving installation that re-connects the audience with nature by getting them on the same frequency. We take inspiration from the natural world to create an environment that connects the people within it, transforming a space into a field of life and movement.

The infinity of energy that we see in nature, for example in the endless waves of the sea, inspires a sense of connectedness and unity; it makes us feel part of a bigger whole. These experiences are also soothing and cathartic because they are felt on an emotional and sensorial level, rather than on an intellectual one. By creating an artwork that replicates this type of universal movement, we seek to provoke the same subconscious effect in settings beyond the natural world, eliciting a sense of wonder and poetry within our environment. 

Through its continuous pulsations and ability to reflect the light around it, Amplitude instills a feeling of weightlessness. Each element of the sculpture acts as an individual and performs in its own amplitude, but at the same time, the elements work as a collective. The combination of movements is synchronised, and at certain times out of step. The movements of the glass, together with the reflection of the light, creates a spectacle of moving reflections and light points. 

Movement and moving elements in and out of balance is present everywhere in nature. Without movement, there is no life possible. We want people to feel this essence while experiencing Amplitude. The movement of the arctic glass tubes is caused by a weight that moves through the glass tube on a spindle. The pace of the glass tubes moving in and out of balance can only move at a particular speed. The speed dictates the energy in the space. It is natural for humans to align to the movements and frequencies of the environment. This is the constant seeking for balance with our environment. It dictates our natural rhythm, and our heartbeat and breath will adapt to this. People can experience this natural rhythm through Amplitude and have a short moment of calm.

Read more: Rockefeller Center Debuts First Permanent Commission in Forty Years and It’s a Fluid Sculpture

Photo: Ronald Smits
Photo courtesy of DRIFT
Photo courtesy of Paul Blind
Video: Tatyana Tenenbaum