Matt Sindall (UK,F)
www.mattsindall.com

Penjors

27.07. - 02.08. 2008

Penjors are tall, curved bamboo poles decorated with different foodstuffs like coconut leaves, cereals and fruits. It is used by Hindus in Bali to praise nature and show devotion to God. In his 5-day workshop Matt Sindall picked the idea of penjors and invited the participants to communicate with nature through matters based on those South Asian ritual objects. Instead of using natural materials, Sindall chose 50 fishing rods, made of carbon fiber, as starting point of the workshop. The task was to resonate with nature by connecting a man-made object with one of the four base elements to magnify and vibrate natural forces. The challenge of the workshop was not only to come up with the idea but also the implementation: How to cope and work with a matter which is compact, flexible but also breakable? At the beginning of the workshop the participants first had to become familiar with their fishing rods by playing with the material and find a place in nature around where the rods can receive energy from nature. By transforming shapes, coloring and connecting the rods different matters, the participants designed four objects reacting with the river Vienne at the mill. The main project was to build a rotating water wheel, anchored to the riverbed and a tire floating on the water surface. On top of the tire, the participants built a construction made of numerous, bended fishing rods. The idea of that object was to pick the principle of the nearby mill and make the fishing rods dance in the water by exposing them to the current. It was not until the participants let the object float down the river, that the rods on the tire started to follow the rhythm of the river and interacted with natural forces. This unplanned step during the final presentation raised new unexpected issues of fundamental significance. Man tries to control nature, but in the end nature is stronger than anything manmade.