The Tape Machine
The Tape machine was my response to the brief of ‘freedom’. the machine is intended as a live demonstration of freedom of both movement and final composition.
This process driven work is intended to create the conditions which will result in a sculpture through a performance which cannot be controlled by the creator. Once triggered the machine drives the tape out into the exhibition space. As the tape moves away from the machine the impressed forces dissipate and the tape eventually moves naturally free from any control until the spool of tape is empty and the final composition is realised.
Mechanically similar in design to traditional etching print press, each of the installations five mechanism use two opposing wheels drive the tape off the spool and out of the front of the housing, arranged in a pentagon inside the housing surrounding the draft produces by a DC driven prop fan mounted in the back of the housing. The design ensured that the tape exits the case cleanly and that the initial cast of the tape dose not collide with the other streams.
