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Zen - a meditation machine

A different method of approaching a work of art in its creation. At first to create the form and the frame itself and then explore how the content and its essence are created. The creation process itself only starts when the technique and form are ready. It took a very long time to acquire the knowledge to implement the first part - a logical and rational system. The irrational, poetic and chaotic takes place in the second part of the work and then in harmony with its logical technical construction. That process never really ends, but is determined by a feeling of stopping the process and simply that I feel finished with the work. The installation was shown in 10 exhibitions between 2003 and 2014 with different graphic patterns and partly the same favorites in repetition. Each exhibition received tailor-made designs for the context and space in which the work was displayed.

This version of Zen was created in 2002. The first version was created in 1992 and was significantly simpler in its construction. The content has been modified by the times the machine has been shown. Zen acts as a moving hourglass, drawing different patterns with fine-grained sand on a white rectangle on the floor. Every day, a white floor surface, as when the gallery room closes, has been completed with a new pattern. It performs one pattern per day, which is then swept away until the next day when it starts over with a new pattern.

Materials: mechanics, electronics, aluminium, steel and sand. Machine working area: 3.5 x 5.5m

© 2023 by Olov Tällström AB

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