Equilibre IV
Equilibre IV
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Artist
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Production Date
1992
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Medium
broom, coat hanger, candle, bell
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Size
1435 mm
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Credit
Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 2010
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Accession Number
C2010/1/39/5.1-5
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Accession Date
23 Nov 2010
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Department
International Art
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Classification
Object
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Collection
Chartwell
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Chartwell Notes
Equilibre IV is one in a series of Paul Kos assemblages involving delicately balanced objects. A horizontal bar rests atop a broom handle, with a bell at one end and a lit candle at the other. As the candle burns down, the shift in weight causes the bell to begin ringing, a simple magic trick that reveals the sound of mass being converted into light and heat, underwritten by the promise of collapse.
The idea for the work was discovered by accident. “I went into my studio […] and I couldn’t think of anything, so I swept the floor,” Kos recalls. “And finally I’m kind of [standing with chin on hand] with the broom [...] and realised it actually stood up after I walked away from it.”
Equilibre IV is also something of a one-liner, pitched by Kos as a dinner-party bell: you light the candle and an hour and a half later the work collapses, signalling that it’s time for the guests to leave.
Equilibre IV’s acquisition by Chartwell was challenging, given Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki’s restrictions around display of an open flame. Kos is open to altering his work as long as the underlying idea remains intact, and one agreed option was to provide the gallery with a video of the work in operation, showing documentation of the burning candle.