Translation
Translation (2023) is a sculpture about the movement and shift of information. It features a waveform, something that can contain a message. However, that can have multiple meanings even in one language, so getting it from one point to another is seldom a straightforward process – it has ups and downs, like the waveform itself.
larch wood, stainless steel
23x10x11 cm
In front, the line is wavy; it is like when specialized fields require many words to make sense. On the side, the line flattens, like when more general topics can be conveyed in fewer words. The last step is when reality can be experienced without words; the line disappears inside the wood. We can only find a sense of the values within ourselves.
Development
Translation's shape was inspired by Christoph von Hagke's research of stylolites – lines within rocks formed under mechanical stress during diagenesis or deformation. Studying them can hint at the forces that the sediment has been through.
Some of the factors that drive the rock cycle are pressure and temperature, which played an essential role in creating this piece's form and surface treatment. The wooden part of Translation is based on the semi·cylindrical shape of a core sample cut in half, and the steel rod follows a similar pattern as stylolites in limestones. One story, a different expression.
A prototype created duiring EGU22.
Sketching process: from a cube to a cylinder and beyond.
Shaping the stainless steel.
Thanks Christoph for sharing his research and the European Geosciences Union for facilitating the exchange.
