There are times I lose faith

July 2011

With Michael Flynn*

A 12'x6"x6" beam floats, suspended in the air, a stainless steel tether its only attachment to the ground. Then without notice or warning the beam comes crashing down. An individual is employed to labor the beam back to its position in the air. The damage to the floor and the beam physically attest to the psychological ravages; the ups and downs of finding and losing faith. There are times I lose faith uses physical phenomena as metaphor to speak to both the magical situation that is faith (here by manipulating magnetism and defying gravity) and the consequence of its failure. The sculpture is abstracted to allow its minimalistic shape to speak more to its action than to any particularities of form. As such the piece addresses the magic and failure of that leap of belief, in God, in the spiritual, in leaders or governments, in corporations, and in love, and the consequences of its failings and ultimately the labor required to reestablish it.

The project setup is as follows:

A metallic pyramid (reminiscent of the masonic, Eye of Providence) is suspended from the ceiling. A large 12ft metal beam hangs suspended in the air, roughly 5 inches below the bottom of the pyramid. The beam is tethered to a wood platform at ground level via a thin metal wire.

The pyramid houses a permanent rare earth magnet that is wound with magnetic wire to create a reversed polarity electromagnet that negates the pull of the permanent magnet. A wire leads to a flight pack box that houses the trigger mechanism. The trigger mechanism is modeled on trigger systems used to activate remote bombs; a burner (throw away) phone is used switch on a high voltage electronic relay, that activates the electromagnet releasing the beam from magnetism's suspension and into gravities grip. The beam which weighs approximately 100lbs crashes onto the platform. The event is triggered via a phone call. The phone call is initiated in three manners; a phone call from the Artist, a phone call via computer that is tracking various data and uses a triggering algorithm, and thirdly a phone call from random persons who discovered the phone number posted around the city via flyers and scribbled in public bathroom stalls, simply with the title "There are times I lose faith" and accompanying telephone number (no explanation is provided to what the call does or is for).

An individual or individuals are employed at the exhibition space to lift the beam back into space, their labor a symbolic gesture on the difficulty of regaining the trust of belief and faith.

Once back up the cycle is set back in motion, the beam magically floating crashes unexpectedly (could be soon or even a day later) and is labored back into its suspended state, the ravages of this tribulation marked through the compounded damages to both beam and platform.

*Michael Flynn was integral in engineering the magnetic mechanism for this work.

Material: Aluminum, Neodymium Magnets, Copper, Electronics, Wood, Stainless Steel, Lead Acid Battery

Dimensions: 15' x 20' x 20'\

Exhibitions: 2011, Call & Response, Newark, NJ