Back in the day when I had my first physics/chemistry classes my teacher once walked in with a small can, a tennis ball and a hammer. He told us that the can contained liquid nitrogen, well known for it’s ability to freeze things up a little. He started to throw some of the nitrogen through the classroom - it was no big deal since it evaporated just after it left the can - and eventually he held the tennis ball in the liquid for a while.
After a few seconds he removed the ball and said that we had to be careful because he was going to slam it with the hammer. Every kid knows what happens to a tennis ball when you slam it with a hammer, it jumps or rolls away. But how about a ball that is frozen like the one in the front of the classroom? It scattered throughout the room.
This story was the first thing that popped up into my mind when I saw the art of all-American Brock Davis. Davis made a series of photographs from shattered objects that would seem unbreakable in normal life. For example the coffee cup in the above picture, a bathduck which would seem even more flexible than my teacher’s tennis ball or any baseball cap.
I’m curious to what Davis wants to show with this art project. Perhaps that even the unbreakable is breakable if you try hard enough? Since that is a rather pessimistic approach I’m going to go for ‘no’ on that one - I’m not to fond of pessimistic approaches. How about this: all material things will disappear eventually, so try investing the majority of your energy and time in immaterial stuff; relationships and learning for example.
Have a nice Monday!
Especially liked the last paragraph.
Maybe he is showing there can be no finite things … and instead showing that “everything as (is) a process” to quote Deepak Chopra. Where everything is forever changing in its shape, function and meaning.
Speaking of which I just broke a Maneki Neko (lucky kitty) bobble head my nephew gave me for my birthday. (There goes my luck) Not sure what do with it now. Half his face is missing, I think I will glue what’s let and fashion an eye patch.
This is extremely interesting artwork. Anything like this where the seemingly impossible is proven plausable really gets huge thumbs up in my book; its like the visual definition of irony. What a cool story too, I bet you were never bored in that class! My favorites are either the kleenex box or the playing card.