One Workweek Chicken Dragrace

2006

A site specific installation rebuilt especially for the hosting venue. A 1:24 slotcar dragrace track is constructed and two dragsters (funny cars class) are assembled using a mix of industrial components and throwaway materials. The setup is designed according to exact specifications: the duration of the race is to be exactly 40 hours, a typical workweek. Exact speed of the dragsters is location specific, but a consequence of the 40 hour duration is that the dragsters move very slowly.

While the work was intended as a statement about time, timing and cultural timeframing, it evolved instead into a response to the typical exhibition agreement which places an invisible border between spectator and work – see but no touch – and the difficulty to break this border, even in “interactive art” situations where the audience is supposed to interact. This installation started out as a regular no-touch kinetic sculpture, but every parameter seems to manipulate the visitors to “illegally” touch the work.

Along with spatiotemporal factors, I suspect that local culture plays a role in determining what features create the right temptation (this version was created for Liljevachls museum in Sweden) but in the end, I can only guess the reasons for this turnout. The cars seem to be simply irresistible, introducing a major aspect of audience participation in the race. During a typical exhibition, the cars are touched, lifted, examined, moved, broken (constant repair/maintenance required).

In the end, the track simply ends and the winner goes over the edge.

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