KMD | Tension
Kinesthetic Motion Database





Tension


Elastic structures can contain physical tension in their body through deformation. We understand the elasticity of the material through the action of physical contact such as touching, holding, bending and twisting, but it is also possible to estimate the amount and nature of tension by just watching the behaviour of the materials.



| Object movements
| Kinesthetic representation



Bending Sculpture

Bending Sculpture consists of a foam sphere, a carbon fibre, and wooden pillar and base. Watching the sculpture moving, we can vaguely simulate the sense of tension which the fibre is suffering because of the weight attatched at the end. A closer look might make our simulation clearer.



Sheet Machiine

Sheet Machiine is comprised of a thick A3 paper attatched to a wooden bar, a stepper motor with another wooden rod and a string that connects the rod and the paper. The bending motion of the paper and the wooden bar indicate the tensional force.



Rotative Sculpture

Rotative Sculpture is made of a metal wire embedded in a wooden rod. The stepper motor rotates the rod and the wire. Although the wire is just rotating, it makes an illusion that the wire is bending and transforming. The illusory transformation of Rotative Sculpture can be associated with the feeling of streching, bending and twisting the body elastically.


kinesthetic representation
Reeds moving in the wind

Puwants Dahlia is an artificial water plant which stands using the buoyancy of air stuck in the flower. The air is supplied through the stem made of a plastic tube. When the air goes out from the tiny hole on top of the flower, the plant loses buoyancy and consequently its balance momentarily.