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Benjamin Storch

Oncology Garden Area Commission

My work is inspired by a diversity of dynamic phenomena. Maybe at its origin there was a synesthetic/kinesthetic sense, possibly invoked by dance, Yoga and Tai Chi, of body and mind existing within polarised force fields. Emotion, desire, gravity, social constraints exerting their push and pull. I felt that, beyond social interactions and language, those forces could be felt physically, spatially, rather than experiencing them as verbalised feelings, thoughts and the resulting actions.

Prior to my current body of work I felt drawn towards organic forms on the one hand and spatial, rotating, geometric patterns on the other. Eventually a series of diagrams, recordings of the motion of a dynamical system of two coupled pendulums, inspired me to create forms that embody a sense of curvilinear motion. The diagrams seemed to combine the dynamic with the geometric, fluidity with a sense of symmetry and spatial alignment. The curve is like an orbit that is drawn towards the centres of gravity of the pendulums, balancing their forces of attraction. Such dynamics have appeared in several branches of mathematics and physics, where similar diagrams result from the numeric plotting of dynamical systems. The connection to fluid phenomena, to vortex flow has been a very important element in my work as well. The surface is pliable, yielding to external forces, taking them in.

Besides drawing on these related principles to visualise new ideas, CAD has become an important tool to analyse the complex surfaces and to plan the making process. Flat sheet metal is stretched and compressed in varying degrees to match the changing curvature of the form. The forming process is strenuous and the individual sections/templates have to be carefully planned.

One might think that it would make more sense to use the metal in its liquid state, to get the forms cast. Yet the process of shaping the sheet makes use of the inherent tension of the material to contribute to the form, as opposed to molding the form in a shapeless, unconstrained material such as wax or clay.

People who see my work say that the tension becomes tangible, and hence the process relates back to the force fields that are the source of inspiration.

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