EINS ZU HUNDERT (1:100)
23. June – 20. August 2022
Working with models – an exhibition in the windows of the studio Steinbrener/Dempf & Huber, Glockengasse/Rotensterngasse, 1020 Wien
Along with a group of local artists and architects LIQUIFER were invited to exhibit in the windows of the artist studio Steinbrener/Dempf & Huber. Each group was given a window space to create a work responding to how they understand the use of models in their work. Models are a simplified image of reality that form possibilities for future scenarios. Used in human sciences, technology, art and architecture models can be an impactful instrument in comprehending how to create change at different scales.
LIQUIFER responded with a poster describing the human relationship to cosmic scales, giving visual examples of an astronaut, different sizes of rocket and familiar animals to illustrate how thinking at scale functions as a space architect.
The poster text reads:
To stand in front of a launch pad with a rocket is staggering. The sheer size of the structure is bewildering, as is the reality that overcoming the Earth’s gravity requires vehicles of such enormous proportions. The effort of human will manifests itself when you find yourself at the feet of this structure. Such a small portion of the rocket is reserved for humans. Over 90 percent of these gigantic volumes are occupied by a bomb which detonates, launching the vessel into space.
We move in and through the universe; day by day, over millions of years. Space and time on a cosmic scale becomes too abstract for our own comprehension. With devotion we explore Outer Space, working towards explorations that take us deeper and deeper. As we overcome distances that are beyond our grasp, they appear so insignificant in cosmic yardsticks.
We already need machines of extraordinary dimensions to explore the closest environment of our solar system. The largest planned rocket at the moment, the Starship from SpaceX, measures around four times the length of a blue whale, the largest living animal on Earth. For the past 22 years the inhabited International Space Station has raced around the Earth once every 93min.
A snail moves at 5 m/h, while a human moves at about 5 km/h. A rocket needs 28,100 km/h to get into orbit, the speed has to almost double to 40,284 km/h to leave near earth orbit.
What is our relationship to such differences? How do we understand them through drawn models? In our everyday experience, we encounter each other 1:1. Models creates the beginning of a relationship to a possibility, they help us to understand the world outside our horizon and to give structure to how we understand it.
LIQUIFER team Waltraut Hoheneder, Barbara Imhof, René Waclavicek