The Throw - #1, Hope

The Throw #1

The Throw consists of 3 parts, DV PAL, 2004, each under 1'

The work attempts to explore the individuals subjective experience of the Utopic. Within these pieces “the throw” is proposed as a metaphor for the negotiation of the path to, through and away from Utopia. The throw proposes a shift from what was once the longing for “a space” to the longing for “a time”, from Utopia as “location”  to Utopia as “moment”.

The throw as an act of hope. The trajectory of the cast object created by the throw (the parabolic curve) illustrates a basic model of the search for the utopic moment. The Throw when linked to Hope mirrors the act of striving (to propel oneself into achieving a different state). The thrown object reaches a momentary peak that cannot be maintained and then surrenders itself to the descent. The throw encompasses the fall within its path. Yet this fall is not seen as a misfortune, instead it is seen as an acknowledgment of gravity and of things coming to rest.

The Throw as an act of aggression. The “shared recognition of truth (which) unite all the citizens” is Arendt’s description of the social underpinnings of a classical Utopia, where “Truth is single and only error is multiple”. Within the individually guided search for the Utopic there emerges the symptom of conflicting truths. There is no hierarchy of intent within a model that recognizes individual multiple Utopias; violence rests alongside hope as a potential path to momentary promised happiness. The aggressive throw may range from a random release to a calculated destructive action. Here possibly the Utopic state is achieved at point release or at point of impact / destruction.

The fall provides a free-floating feeling, a momentary loss of resistance an absence of propulsion. This act has negative connotations, for it alludes to the demise. The fall is the action that is void of hope, the dystopic action. Although it can also be seen as an exit point or a surrender to something greater.