The mechanism is that of rotation. A motor spinning. A body turning. A gaze averting.
And here is how it goes:
1. Place the camera on a kitchen-organiser-tray [1,99€ at Action]. Wind a tide-together shoe lace around it. Attach a small motor to it. Turn it on.
Now the camera will be spinning, its gaze slowly gliding over what is around: corner, electricity socket, chair, curtain, another chair, wall, wall, wall, and again corner, electricity socket, and so on. Soon we’ll be a little dizzy, a little dizzy but comfortably so, for there is repetition and rhythm, and the okay-yes-that’s-next.
Now stop. Withhold on the camera. Do not let go. Do not let it avert its gaze. He, the motor, will [keep going], will continue its perfect circles, tirelessly and mechanically. Now turning nothing but itself [centripetal forces], its efforts only perceptible in a slight but adhesive panning, back and forth, back and forth.
2. The force of gravity acts as a pull on the body [downwards]. Combined with inertia, this can lead to the feeling of being stuck, or blocked, or unable to move. If there is no countering force strong enough to break this [fixation]. It is only a third element, momentum [change of direction], which gives the impulse to movement. Immobility turns to motion, turns over, turns between, turns inwards, turns eyes, turns shoulder blades, turns right now, turns slower, turns off.
SPIN is part of an ongoing research into the mechanics of emotion and violence of sensation. It was developed in collaboration with Mira Jochimsen.