D-Gravitizer 1999

Sora Kim
Ten Asian Artists in Residence: October 30, 1999 – July 31, 2000
Materials
steel, aluminum, plastic, AstroTurf, cans

D-Gravitizer is a zero gravity solution which, when ingested, would allow one to float around space wherever one wished. It is strongly recommended for all types of tough labors in hard-to-reach areas such as ceilings, skyscrapers, etc.

Description

Process: 1. Research 2. Computer Generation 3. Product Design 4. Product Manufacturing 5. Retail Display 6. Advertising 7. Sales

Sora Kim is the creator of an imaginary company – The Unlimited Concept Co. The Cleaning Department, one of a number of imaginary departments, has occupied much of her time and artistic output over the past several years. For this installation, Sora has refined the marketing aspect for D-Gravitizer, an imaginary solution that when ingested, will momentarily free the cleaning person from the pull of gravity and allow them to float around any space at will. As part of the design process, Sora engaged a computer to create a multi-dimensional diagram that evolved from the relationship between an aluminum can (the container of the product itself) and the delta waves of the human brain while in deep sleep (from the effect of the product). The process gave Sora Kim a “design machine” that provided the image for the logo on the D-Gravitizer can and the form for the display space and shelving. The retail concept for the D-Gravitizer solution is on display in this installation.

Artist Statement

D-Gravitizer is a zero gravity solution which, when ingested, would allow one to float around space wherever one wished. It is strongly recommended for all types of tough labors in hard-to-reach areas such as ceilings, skyscrapers, etc., and for further applications. It has been extensively researched and developed by The Laboratory of Unlimited Concept Co., and has now been made available at the Mattress Factory.

For the product and its promotion of the D-Gravitizer at the Mattress Factory, The Laboratory of Unlimited Concept Co., has engaged a computer program to create a Multi-Dimensional Diagram that has been evolved from the relationship between the Aluminum Can (explicit source: the container of the product itself) and the Delta waves of the human brain while in deep sleep (implicit source: from the effect of the product).

Making a diagram for D-Gravitizer is to bring structure to the Nothing-to-Do-Station; a station where the disassembled tiny particles of the consumer’s body under the effect of the product visit every 0.0000000000000000001 second so as not to respond to the gravitational pull.

Re-constructed Nothing-to-Do-Station as a Generative Diagram, developed from conceptual sources of D-Gravitizer, has serves as a design machine to materialize and visualize the functional design including the product’s label, the retail space and sales furniture.

D-Gravitizer is not only a product to be free from gravity, but also from all other ideas of being in absolute value.

About the Artist

Born in Seoul in 1965, Sora Kim studied at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris and the Seoul National University.