Press Release
Die Mimik der Tethys (The Expressions of Tethys) consists of a buoy seeming to float high in the centre of the iconic helicoidal ramp of the former FIAT factory at Lingotto. Its movement evokes that of the waves, and is achieved through a sophisticated engineering system that connects Die Mimik der Tethys to a sister buoy located in the Atlantic Ocean. The original buoy continuously transmits motion data via satellite to its double, and the information guides eight electric motors and cable winches, reproducing its motion in real-time. The artwork thus becomes a kind of hypnotic machine; a surreal presence that leads one to imagine that the monumental space of the ramp could contain the waves of the ocean.
