Calming Box

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The "calming box" was realized in the context of the project "ART MACHINE - Art from the vending machine". The ART MACHINE is a converted cigarette vending machine by "kunsttick" Berlin/Potsdam, which was made available to the association Styrian Summer Art and installed on the main square in Pöllau. Here passers-by can purchase small signed originals by selected artists, packed in cigarette boxes designed by the association. The art surprises are small paintings, objects, prints, photographs, drawings and much more. With the ART MACHINE as the smallest art gallery in Eastern Styria, the association accommodates those interested in art and the curious, since contemporary art plays a subordinate role in the rural area there.

I used the request for participation in the project to design the "calming box". This takes the physical phenomenon of magnetism out of its original context and looks at its properties of attraction and repulsion in an aesthetic way. The contemplative movement of the small particles, triggered by turning the crank, has a pleasantly calming effect and invites one to dream. The more regular the rhythm of movement, the greater its effect on us. Thus, beyond the dimensions of this small box, it is possible for us to create an imaginary space, which we are able to form ourselves by turning the crank.