MOMENTUM

MARKUS HOFFMANN DAS NUMEN MOMENTUM MARKUS HOFFMANN DAS NUMEN MOMENTUM

DAS NUMEN MOMENTUM


DAZ, Berlin, 2013, curated by Carson Chan





In cooperation with the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) and its observatory on Tenerife, Das Numen acquired live data from the observation of the sun. The incoming pulses set a 5-armed horizontal pendulum measuring 8 m in diameter into motion, which was installed in the darkened exhibit space of the DAZ. The design of the pendulum and the effects of the centrifugal forces caused an uncoordinated, independent movement. Light sources were attached to two of the five pendulum arms; these were the only things visible to the visitors in the dark room. Due to its movement above the heads of the viewers, a contemplative space was formed above the heads of the viewers, in which the bright light of the swinging movement remained on the retina of the eye as a threedimensional light drawing, an afterimage.With the friendly support of: DAZ, Cultural Affairs Department of Berlin, be Berlin, AIP (Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam), the commission for artistic and scientific projects (KKWV) of the University of the Arts (UdK) Berlin, the University of the Arts Berlin, Absolut Vodka.

The scientific model is founded on the predictability of results; a model that does not reliably anticipate the reaction to an action is not a model at all. That the sun will rise each day and set each night—varying the length of each day and night every six months—has been a rhythmic constant that has prevailed since before human history. Our perception of time, our transcendental beliefs, and the basic structure of our civilization had all depended on the certainty of the sun’s rise and fall. But look closer, deeper and with the aid of enhanced eyes and the sun is a thing of chaos and chance, if not possessing of logic far beyond our limited comprehension. Das Numen Momentum is a representation of solar and cosmic scales within a gallery space, and a model of the boundaries between the world of knowledge, and that of awe (Text: Carson Chan).

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© Markus Hoffmann