KMD | Balance
Kinesthetic Motion Database





Balance


We have the tacit understanding of how objects balance and stand on the ground, just as we know how to stand upright and remain stable. Balance is of high necessity for human perception both physically and psychologically.



| Object movements


  • An object inspired by a kinetic sculpture "Machines that almost fall over". It actually nearly falls over and regains its balance. We may be intimidated by the fact that there is no way of cushioning the impact of falling over should it completely lose its balance.


  • The rhythm of rolling, the angle of balancing, the elliptic shape of the sculpture, the hard materiality which not only the visual but also the sound tells us. With what kind of kinesthetic feeling would you empathise with the motion?


  • Bending Sculpture consists of a foam sphere, a carbon fibre, a wooden pillar and base. The sense of balance and imbalance repeats and gradually attenuates.


  • 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.


  • 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.


  • Puwants Spiral is an artificial waterplant which is made of a flower and a spiral-shaped stem. As the air accumulates in the flower, it extends the spiral stem. Once the air accumulates to a certain amount, it gets out of the tiny hole on top of the flower and the total structure sinks downwards.


  • Grass by Len Lye is a kinetic sculpture where tens of metal fibre gracefully lean back and forth on the balancing base. The fibres look like effortlessly playing the balance and imbalance.


  • Sea Change is a kinetic sculpture by George Cutts. A pair of an elastically bent rod slowly rotates. The rotative motion makes an illusion as if the sculpture is bending, not rotating. The harmony of the twin sculpture creates a hypnotic flow of the lines.


  • Kumamon figure which I discovered in a supermarket in Tokyo. Perhaps using the solar battery, it continues creating the movement. It was meant to catch people attention and to promote donation for Kumamoto after the earthquake.


  • A large version of the elliptic sculpture.


| Kinesthetic representation


  • The sharp pivoting point of the machine reminds me of the feeling of standing and balancing on the heels.


  • My kinesthetic empathy with the elliptic sculpture can be better expressed with a rocking chair. I can simulate how it would feel like if I were to move like the sculpture, but my body is not enough to actually demonstrate the feeling of rolling on the round and hard edge. Sitting on a rocking chair, it feels like an extension of my body, not just an external object.


  • Bending Sculpture is anthropomorphic; the sphere looks like a head on top of a body of the fibre. The sculpture overall may look like a human bowing. The sense of tilting the upper body could be simulated.


  • The illusory elastic transformation of the wire reminded me of the feeling of twisting the waist and rotating the full body.


  • When Puwants Dahlia loses its balance, there is a moment of fear of losing the balance and stability. This feeling can be expressed with a body gesture shown above.


  • Puwants Spiral slowly ascends and suddenly descends. The combination of the motion and the structure made me feel like lifting the heavy upper body and suddenly force supporting the weight disappears.


  • Empathising with the fibres of Grass by Len Lye. My kinesthetic response would be expressed with a gradual shift of the body between balance and imbalance.


  • In the video above, I express my kinesthetic empathy with one of the pair of Sea Change by George Cutts. Empathising with the pair altogether would simulate different kinesthetic sensation.


  • This Kumamon figure has a very zoomorphic appearance. Differing from other abstract objects, it has less room for exploring what kind of kinesthetic empathy one might experience.