News

The sculpture is based on a piece I did in 2006. It is called Mobile and consisted in two iron arms hanging from the ceiling bearing the letters that identify the cardinal points NSWE. It’s a mobile version of the cross usually found at the top of the houses associated to a weather-vane (cock, witch, horse, etc.) that points the direction of the wind. In my sculpture the movement of air inside the room where it was exhibited changed not only the position of the cardinal points but also the orthogonal relation between the arm NS and the arm EW, as the two arms were not welded together.
For the Ausbildungszentrum Rohwiesen I thought of an enlargement of this work to be installed in the atrium hanging from one of the beams in the ceiling. In this case the 6 meter long arms and the letters are made of aluminium tubes and folded aluminium sheets, being the weight of the whole sculpture less than 100 kg. The sculpture is painted satin black.
The movement of the sculpture is not produced by air currents inside the building but by the wind outside. In order to produce this effect a wind sensor is installed on the building’s rooftop and connected to a computer that sends the information to a motor that moves the sculpture’s upper arm (NS) and lower arm (EW). The wind sensor and computer system should produce a rotation of the arms in a range between ½ rpm to 5 rpm (revolutions per minute) depending on the strength of the wind: the stronger the wind the faster the movement of the arms.
The dimensions of the arms are strictly related to the dimensions of the atrium: they are slightly smaller than the width of the space and in their turning the letters pass by the windows and corridors on the third floor. On the other hand the position of the sculpture allows different points of view from different levels and even from the two staircases. The satin black colour of the sculpture intends to create a strong contrast with the building and also produce some subtle reflections of natural or artificial light on its surface.
The title of the piece plays with the four letters of the cardinal points creating the word NEWS. I find this title very specific for the building. The logic of the fixed arms crossing in right angle pointing to the actual cardinal points is broken by the wind outside the building. The movement of the sculpture becomes “news” from the outside. Uncertainty replaces human control on natural forces. The sculpture is the result of a silent catastrophe (1).

(1) Both the etymology and the definition of the word catastrophe cast some light on the meaning of this work inside the Ausbildungszentrum Rohwiesen:
Catastrophe: from Ancient Greek καταστροφή (katastrophḗ), from καταστρέφω (katastréphō, “I overturn”), from κατά (katá, “down, against”) + στρέφω (stréphō, “I turn”).
Catastrophe: Any large and disastrous event of great significance.
A disaster beyond expectations.
The dramatic event that initiates the resolution of the plot in a tragedy.
(Mathematics) A type of bifurcation, where a system shifts between two stable states.