Responsive objects / Twenty playable studies

Art in your hands.

Trace a painted curve with a magnet, bend light through a tile, or turn a printed vessel inside out.

The first four

Angle / Tilt / Water / Stretch

The amber disc of Red Meridian resolves in a cylinder above a warped print.

01 / Angle

The Mirror Reveal

Move the viewpoint to see a cylindrical reflection reconstruct the warped print. Choose any of the five paintings.

Find the angle

A brass track follows the curled blue stroke in The Listener.

02 / Tilt

Listener Gravity Trace Maze

Tip the board and guide a brass ball along the painting’s curl to the final pocket.

Play the maze

A pale dry field card beside the same card with its garden colours revealed.

03 / Water

Noon Rain-Reveal Field Card

Brush water across the card to uncover the colour in Garden Before Noon, then watch the surface dry.

Wet the card

Quiet Face I on a flat tile grid, then stretched into a grid with diamond gaps.

04 / Stretch

Quiet Face Cutwork

Open a grid of linked squares to turn the continuous painting into a pattern of tiles and gaps.

Stretch the print

Six more studies

Motion / Air / Balance / Pressure

Three pieces of Red Meridian sit at different heights in a hand-cranked wooden relief.

05 / Crank

Meridian Cam Lift Relief

Turn a shaft and watch three followers lift the painting’s pieces. Find the point where they line up.

Turn the crank

A dark green dial shows one circular crop of The Listener at a time.

06 / Index

Listener Geneva Index Dial

Watch a drive pin advance the wheel a quarter turn, then pause on a new detail of the painting.

Advance the dial

Two views of Tidal Oval on wooden strips show the flatter and curled states.

07 / Humidity

Tidal Humidity Curl Frame

Change the simulated humidity and see the painted wood strips curl out from the frame.

Change the air

The garden painting aligns on a row of vertical vanes in still air and breaks into strips in a draft.

08 / Breeze

Noon Breeze Vane Register

Steer a breeze through the frame. The vanes turn separately, then come back into line in still air.

Steer the breeze

Quiet Face I is divided between a fixed support and a beam that tips with a brass counterweight.

09 / Balance

Quiet Face Counterweight Horizon

Slide the brass weight along the beam until it levels and the two halves of the profile meet.

Find the balance

The amber disc of Red Meridian appears on a raised dome, then in a concave pocket.

10 / Pressure

Meridian Snap Relief Pocket Tile

Press the amber dome until it snaps inward. Turn it over and press again to bring it back.

Press the relief

The latest ten

Light / Magnetism / Material / Textile

A sealed slate shows a curl traced with a magnetic stylus.

11 / Magnet

Listener Magnetic Contour Slate

Trace a curl with the stylus and erase the dark line to start again.

Trace the contour

A faceted clear tile next to a warm image projected onto a screen.

12 / Refraction

Meridian Caustic Projection Tile

Move the light and screen to see refracted rays form and disperse a study of Red Meridian.

Aim the light

A row of fins and their intended shadow after Quiet Face I.

13 / Shadow

Quiet Face Shadow-Fin Sculpture

Move the lamp until the fins cast one continuous portrait.

Align the shadow

Two views of a pocket token in ambient light and direct flash.

14 / Flash

Tidal Flash-Reveal Pocket Token

Switch on the simulated flash and move it near the viewing axis to brighten the motif.

Try the flash

Five narrow fragments of Tidal Oval mounted on a scissor linkage.

15 / Linkage

Tidal Scissor Stretch Sculpture

Extend the crossing bars to separate five painting fragments, then bring them together.

Extend the linkage

A cool dark patch and a warmer reveal on a Red Meridian card sleeve.

16 / Warmth

Meridian Palmprint Card Sleeve

Warm the card with a virtual thumbprint and watch colour come through the mask.

Warm the card

Navy pile before and after a curled mark is combed into it.

17 / Pile

Listener Hand-Combed Pile Plaque

Comb the velvet to change its sheen and reveal the blue curl in tone.

Brush the pile

Garden Before Noon on cloth shown flat and gathered along drawcords.

18 / Gather

Noon Drawcord Smock Panel

Pull the cords to gather the garden into folds and change its rhythm.

Draw the cords

Two different over-under arrangements of Red Meridian on woven ribbons.

19 / Weave

Meridian Reweavable Ribbon Frame

Change which printed ribbons pass over and under to rearrange the composition.

Change the weave

Two faces of a reversible cloth vessel showing the portrait and a close crop.

20 / Evert

Quiet Face Turn-Through Cloth Vessel

Turn the vessel inside out to move the detail from the lining to the outside.

Turn the vessel

The demos model the reveal, movement, or geometry on screen. Physical samples would test the finish and feel of each object. Read the research notes ↗