Omega=1 New York 2012

Omega=1 2002-2011

Notes on the work.

A point is an undefined term in geometry. Euclid explained the term as a geometrical object that lacks length, width or breadth. Therefore it has no size and can be thought of only as a position in space and hence defined only by co ordinates.
Normally when we try and balance an object on our finger we use three movements: forward-backward, side-to-side and up-down. This prototype is a starting point for the project using a very rapid X-Y feedback system that looks at the top of the pencil and then moves the base of the pencil accordingly in order to maintain perfect balance. The pencil is a standard 2.75 gram hexagonal unaltered painted wooden pencil, grade 2B for existential, philosophical and conceptual reasons. To be or not to be is in fact a very good question to raise as far as the efficiency of the balance is concerned.Also a good point to ask when wondering if it was worth ten years of effort to create the work.
Tested in the workshop under vibration free conditions and with little or no air movement the pencil goes effortlessly into Zen mode and achieves perfect balance with the machine virtually coming to rest and the pencil held perfectly static.
Although the technical aspects of the system are complex, the machine itself uses the absolute minimum of engineering and can be packed into a suitcase. The 12-volt system runs from a car battery and can run easily from a single solar cell requiring only 0.2 amps of current.

The modern monument represents a metaphor for the fragility of the earth, politically, socially but also ecologically. In direct opposition to the large bronze heavyweight sculptures, which supposedly define traditional accepted values of morality, dignity, and longevity all built with impervious materials Ω = 1 is the equivalent of a monumental minutiae.
The pencil held within its predefined limits, approximately 10mm diameter from perfect vertical, will balance indefinitely but once pushed to the edge of the sensors’ tolerance (by knocking the side of the machine) it will struggle to bring back balance. However once it goes beyond this limit, collapse is inevitable and impossible to reverse.

The pencil held in perfect balance is a philosophical conglomeration of scientific metaphor and artistic pretentiousness. Of course the pencil has been the starting and ending point, not only in art, but communication in general for thousands of years. The world of physics however makes use of the pencil in perfect balance as a classical theoretical model that describes the open, balanced and critical state of the big bang expansion of the universe.

Omega=1 was inspired by a metaphor used regularly in astro-physics which uses the idea of a pencil placed in perfect balance to represent the cosmos. The pencil would, in theory, remain in perfect balance unless disturbed by some outside force, then it would start to collapse, slowly at first and then this would continue with exponential collapse. After reading this metaphor in literature concerned with the big bang I decided to build a system that would hold a pencil in a state of perfect balance. Started in 2004 the first system took 5 years to complete but consisted of sensors that visually interfered with the standing pencil. After developing an optical sensor that used a telephoto lens, a second system was built finally completing the project after 10 years of work.

Omega=1 detail