surface BPM is a new series of work in which I am pushing the paint along the surface for as long as the silence between the ticks of a metronome. Six paintings were planned to follow specific beats per minute from 20 BPM - 250 BPM, contained within a 2D surface area of 100x70cm. I described the tempos from slow to quick as knead, stroke, sweep, slice, strike and attack.
I have discovered that as the tempo increases, the push and pulling of paint during the silence shifts to harmonise with the beat, so that by 140 BPM whether I am moving on the silence between beats or on the beat itself is ambiguous. By 250 BPM, I'm unable to evaluate this.
surface bpm. 2023
enquiry.
movement | momentum | inertia | mass | velocity | acceleration | infinity | force friction | resistance | motion | time | flow | speed | rest | space | pressure | weight matter | intention | action | rhythm | tempo | push | pull | repetition | limitation restriction | accident | assessment | reassessment | decision.
contentions.
Chillida | Newton | Uslé | Laban | Nietzsche | Deleuze | Heraclitus | Augustine of Hippo.
In conversation with Dr. Stuart Clark, Astrophysicist and Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Professor Anders Rydberg and researchers from Uppsala University | UU Department of Engineering Sciences, whose experiments on the wave-like nature of something called a Rydberg state revealed a way to measure time that doesn't require a precise starting point.
the paintings.
surface BPM. extremely slow (knead) at 20 BPM
surface BPM. very slow (stroke) at 40 BPM
surface BPM. rather slow at (sweep) at 60 BPM seconds per minute
surface BPM. at ease (slice) at 70 BPM
surface BPM. heart-rate sweet spot (strike) at 140 BPM
surface BPM. extremely fast (attack) at 250 BPM
surface BPM. 300 +
metronome.