Ripple is an interactive sculpture exploring how small forces expand out into a greater whole. Utilizing leverage to move a disproportionate amount of weight or number of moving parts with a simple lever, we can experience the activation energy required to start a reaction and consider how it is taken for granted or overlooked in our day-to-day. Whether it be turning on a light switch, lifting a car door handle, or braking on a bicycle, these seemingly insignificant moments are evidence of how we activate the world around us.
By deliberately considering what we activate ourselves, we can approach these engagements with an ethic of care. Here, the macrame spokes serve as a robust but more precarious link within a larger chain of events that asks us to pause and consider what it means to more intentionally approach our use of leverage. In these relations, there will always be an element of uncertainty and uncontrollability – as the light casts out from Ripple onto the predictability of the world around it.
I would like to thank Broke Spoke Community Bike Shop, Get Outside KY, & Berea College’s bike shop for supplying wheels and various bike parts for this installation.