Critical Studies Three

Posted on 27/05/2014 Updated on 13/01/2015

Tomás Saraceno – In Orbit

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Tomás Saraceno’s piece, In Orbit, is a truly fascinating display of interactivity, design and style. In Orbit was opened to the public on 22^nd June 2013, it is a construction of steel nets which are laid out in three levels. Within the nets are half a dozen spheres, the spheres are up to 8.5 meters in size and have been placed within the installation. The net structure overall covers 2,500 square meters and floats over a 25 meter drop within the gallery. Visitors to the gallery can enter the installation and walk between the three layers between the spheres.

In Orbit is designed to be a network which moves and flexes when the viewer walks around within it; when more than one person walks within the space, the movement of one person effects the others, making the piece act as a sort of spiders web; every connection connected to itself, constantly altering the piece to accommodate the viewer, due to the vibrations of the viewers. Saraceno talks about his piece as a new hybrid form of communication, with reference to the vibrations being transferred from person to person.

In Orbit was planned over a three year period, and was constructed with the help of engineers, architects and biologists. Out of all of Saraceno’s work, this piece Is the most complex, and weighing in at three tons on the net structure alone, is one of his heaviest pieces. Saraceno, for years, has researched many species of spiders, and the structure of their webs. Saraceno has studied the network construction technology of webs and uses the functionality, strength, and beauty within his own artistic practice.

Every single piece of Saraceno’s work, including In Orbit, is a part of a larger project ‘Air-Port-City’, a floating city of the future; a utopia in response to global pollution, growth, and dramatic ecological problems, which is making the Earth an increasingly uninhabitable place.

In conclusion, Saraceno’s piece is a construct of years of research and thought, which is beautiful in its architecture and design. A truly fascinating concept, for which we may have to take inspiration from if the world does in fact become uninhabitable.