Complexity in Art

The subject is complexity. In November 2006 I gave a keynote lecture "Managing Complexity" at an annual meeting of financial controllers in Vienna. While I was asked to speak about the topic from a historical, philosophical, and scientific background, I promised to showcase some of my art work in so far as it relates to the theme. The following three examples serve as the first posts here and they portray some of my thoughts on it. You are invited to offer your comments to continue and enrich the dialog.

Richard Jochum

Halt

Watch the Video

The Video "Halt" shows what might happen if we are not able to understand or manage complexity successfully. If we mistake the part of a tree upon which we are sitting with the activity that we are involved with, we might very well end up cutting off that branch.

The Threshold as a Swing

Installation, New York 2005

The installation piece "Threshold as a Swing" reproduces a wooden threshold that is hung into a space 2 inches above ground while swinging back and forth, swaying to and fro, marking the space in between spaces and traversing from one to another. Complexity deals with multitudes and duplication, with a situation that has gotten too difficult to be defined by only one scheme, one algorithm, or one set of rules.

Appreciation of Problems

Book-object, Vienna 1992, edition of 23 books

To see the animated gif, click either the image or the Link.

The booklet "Problembewusstsein" [Appreciation of Problems] tells the story of complexity as it applies to our being in the world. It originally serves as a handout for a course in political science dealing with international policy making and development theories. I found it unbelievable that each of us knows of the world's worst problems (starving, HIV, growth of population, global warming, man made epidemics, natural disasters, etc.) while not doing much against it. Knowing and doing seem to correspond little to each other. That might not be a big problem as long as everybody takes care of his or her private business and as long as these local businesses are not connected among each other, but sustainable and self-sufficient. It may be fatal yet, in case they would be related, connected, interrelated with each other, and have a global extension.