17 Nov 2017 – 3 Feb 2018

ENGINEERED EQUANIMITY: THE MACHINES OF STEVEN PIPPIN

Biography

Steven Pippin b.1960 Redhill, England. Lives and works in London.

www.mrpippin.co.uk

EVENTS

18 Jan 2018 Special event at Babington House (Soho House), Somerset. Steven Pippin in conversation with Jamie Eastman, Director of Arts. Limited availability.

CrEdiTS aNd ThaNkS

Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Bath

Gavin Brown’s Enterprise

Special thanks to Steven Davies and Olivia Guigue

oFFiCE oF ThE dirECTor oF arTS

Executive Toy, 1995

Colour television, DVD player, model plastic viewer, electric motor, aluminium framework

Executive Toy was constructed sometime after Flat Field and was made as a smaller, more compact version which could be placed on the desk of a corporate director. A direct reference to a powerful executive who might be in control of a global empire. A small plastic figure orbits the TV, always viewing it (even the rear side of it) pepetually fixed to the interface.

By appointment only. Please contact : edge-info@bath.ac.uk

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Steven Pippin is an artist, inventor and engineer. He is internationally recognised for his work in experimental and conceptual photography which began in the early 1980s, after he had completed both engineering and art degrees.In the late 1980s, with the eye of artist and engineer Pippin’s exploration of science and technology expanded into ambitious experiments and complex hybrid machines. This exhibition presents a selection of mechanical sculptures made between 1989 and 2015 which articulate his interest in cosmology and quantum physics, revealing his satirical view of mass media (particularly the television).

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Static Energy Turbine System, 2016–ongoingSteven Pippin & Steven DaviesSLS (selected laser sintering) 3D nylon printed inflatable blade, FDM (fused deposition modelling) PLA accretion disc, stainless steel bearings, electrical contacts, wooden windtunnel, fan, ocilloscope

The Static Energy Turbine System is an exploratory research project led by Steven Pippin and fellow inventor Steven Davies. Since 2016 the collaborators have been

exploring the possibility of harnessing static energy which builds up on the surface of wind turbine blades. This is currently an untapped by-product which could make the generation of green energy even more efficient.

Made using a 3D printer, the design sets up the most optimum conditions for the generation and capture of static energy. It features an invisible internal cavity, 3 blades coated with an electrically conductive surface and a directional cowling (or housing) which acts to dissipate the static charge via a high speed switching system.

The static energy is produced by the efficient system of harnessing wind energy. The wind tunnel was especially created for this exhibition. It attempts to simulate how to capture static electricity outdoors. This initial scale model is essentially an ‘ideas machine’ looking at new and experimental ways to improve a classical wind turbine.

1. Horizontal hold, 1996Black and white television, TV transmitter, VHS player, three electric motors, aluminium framework

Horizontal Hold followed on from the previous machine Flat Field. The initial idea was very simple and came from watching television. When we are sat on a sofa or armchair looking at the television, all the images transmitted from around the world are channelled into the television set while we sit there, stationary watching, absorbing and consuming these images. The TV set is static and the images are constantly moving. The idea for this series of television works was to make the television move and render the moving image stationary. So in this case the image of the world rotates and the television tube rotates in the opposite direction at approximately the same speed to cancel out the movement.

2. Geostationary TV set, 1996-98Colour television, integrated DVD player, three electric motors, transformers, nylon bearings, aluminium framework

Geostationary carries on directly from Horizontal Hold and the previous work Flat Field. The television screen is roughly at eye level qnd provides a framework which references globe constructions of the 19th century. The work has been upgraded to a colour screen and originally used a VHS tape recording incorporated inside the rotating central hub. This has more recently been converted to DVD, making it more reliable.

3. New Constellation, 1999Glass lamp, model wooden planets, model plastic viewer and television, aluminium and nylon structure, aluminium gearbox.

New constellation is a model of the solar system, or orrery, except that here the earth has been replaced by a television set and the moon by a man sitting and watching (forever in viewing orbit). The TV does not operate and is for conceptual purposes only.

4. Geocentric TV, 1998Colour television, TV transmitter, DVD player, two electric motors, aluminium framework

Geocentric TV is something of a midpoint between the early basic rotating TV sets and the suspended Geoplasma Screen. The screen’s rotation is offset at 23 degrees : the same angle as the earth’s north-south axis. It was the first work made with the help of another engineer as the scale of the parts were such that it was not possible for me to machine and weld the pieces in my workshop. Hence the relation to this work is somewhat different than to previous works, as this piece was designed and then fabricated exactly to the drawing without changes during fabrication.

5. Fax 69, 1998/9 Panasonic and Brother fax machines, roll of fax paper, Perspex holder, PABX (private automatic branch exchange) device, office desk

Two Fax machines are located closely together with one machine alongside the second one. Fax n°1 (sending machine) is loaded with the original document (a piece of blank white paper approximately six pages in length.) Fax n°1 rings Fax n°2 and transmits the original document which emerges from machine n°2. As the facsimile emerges from Fax n°2 (receiving machine) it is re-fed into the first machine (as an original document) and so creates a continual loop. The process continues until the fax roll eventually runs out. In order to

save paper a Plexiglas loop was inserted between the two machines and one of the machines modified so the paper could loop back to the original machine.

6. Carbon Copiers, 2007Two office Xerox photocopiers, paper

These two almost identical Xerox office copiers were purchased in the USA and fixed or placed together as displayed with one machine on-top of the other, with one copier making a copy of the other and vice versa, simultaneously.

7. Geoplasma Flatscreen TV, 2002Flatscreen television, DVD player, three electric motors, electronic control system, gold rotational contacts, steel framework

Geoplasma Screen TV is essentially an exact copy of the work Geostationary TV, the concept for the work is identical apart from the fact that the work is constructed in the most minimal form possible, therefore the supporting framework is reduced to just three main supporting elements and fixed to the ceiling. The CRT has been replaced with a large flat screen and the movement of the screen is dictated by a signal contained on the DVD audio track thereby keeping the image rotation and the physical screen movement in perfect synchronisation.

8. Global Wastepaper basket, 2015 Polycarbonate globe with hole, bulb, plastic bag

This work was constructed from a model globe and obviously refers to the current global predicament concerning human over population, ever increasing waste, de-forestation, global warming and general destruction of the planet for which we are all responsable.

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Each sculpture involves a process of research, manipulation and re-appropriation. Everything from TVs, fax machines, to wind turbines are reassessed, revealing the inter-relationship between objects, mechanisms and the Universe. Pippin’s approach is distinctly autonomous and subject to the fallibilities and risk of scientific experimentation, yet there are clear moments of insight and the opportunity to expand on what might be possible.

This exhibition captures precise moments and breakthroughs in Pippin’s oeuvre as an Engineer, tracing the genesis of ideas from works as early as 1989 (Wow & Flutter), to gravity defying solutions Ω = 1, 2004/5–2014, to his most recent project – Static Energy Turbine System, 2016-ongoing – a

live experiment in the gallery.

This presentation of works and accompanying timeline map Pippin’s practice against the rapid worldwide technological and scientific advancements of our age. His approach may be unconventional, but his playful exploits make a serious contribution to the field of engineering, offering new perspectives in the way we see the world.

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Ω = 1 2004/5–2014Two optical lens system, infrared system, two LED lamps, carbon fiber cord, pulleys, metal stand launcher, aluminium framework, two DC electric motors, electronic control system, 12 volts car battery and 2B pencil

A pencil balancing on its tip is a metaphor often used in physics to represent the perfect balance between the forces of the universe. This equilibrium stops the universe both collapsing inward on itself and expanding outward uncontrollably.

The representation of this idea through a perfectly balanced pencil was the starting point for the Ω=1 project. Pippin took up the challenge to develop a system which could continuously sustain this state of suspense. He began experimenting in 2006 but it was not before 10 years of trial and error that the system was complete.

Gravity must act on the pencil, passing symmetrically through it to make contact with the earth. If however the pencil deviates by the smallest amount then the error is quickly amplified so the pencil exponentially accelerates toward the horizontal position and total collapse.