Introduction

An interest in motion patterns and the introduction of random factors into their often highly complex, still seemingly effortless installations is a constituent element of the work of the artist duo Tommi Grönlund and Petteri Nisunen. In their second gallery exhibition they present two installations which more than ever deal with the mutual dependence of single components forming a system. 

In the main exhibition space a spheric construction made of white, powder-coated aluminium hovers in the air, suspended on two pillars halfway between floor and ceiling. Four interlocked rings of more than 3 metres in diameter can be set into motion by simply giving them a gentle push. Moving slowly and effortlessly, they orbit each other and the centre of the exhibition space. The construction is a hybrid between a gyroscope and a gyrocompass, both of them tools created to deal with gravity, surveying, mapping and therefore interpreting space. The installation brings to mind Early Renaissance architectural models of a pre-Kopernikus planetary system, where the sun and other planets revolve around earth on wire orbits, while the earth itself stands still. Just like those delicately executed models which still didn't resemble reality, the system created by Grönlund\Nisunen can be seen as a model, as well. As an attempt to arrive, making use of motion, at a description and depiction of space - or rather non-space? After all, the centre orbited by those aluminium rings is empty.

In the adjoining room, 16 metal discs are arranged in a freestanding metal frame, connected by rubber belts, and powered by an electric motor. If one part moves, they all do. Since the driving collars attached to the discs offer different positions for placing the rubber belts, the discs rotate at different speeds. Light from behind the sculpture shines through slots in the rotating discs and creates a projection of the movement on the opposite wall. 

Both works are kinetic experiments, in the case of the spheric installation, due to its complexity it wasn't possible to conduct a test run. In the course of the exhibition it will become clear whether the movements follow repetitive patterns or take a random course.