“Balance” installation of 108 sculptures by Colby Jennings

Balance

Immerse yourself in the experience of balance, motion, and byproduct audio at the ideaXfactory during First Friday Art Walk on June 6, 6-10 p.m.

Conversations with Artists! – Colby Jennings on Friday, June 13 at 6 p.m.

Colby Jennings has created 108 small sculptures using found objects that run on electrical motors activated by motion sensors or data collected from the internet. The sculptures will be distributed throughout the interior space of the ideaXfactory. Custom software controls rates of motion for each one based on unique data such as the rate of species decline or number of pollutants entering our ecosystem each year.  The 108 number of sculptures is a reference to Buddhist culture — the number of beads on the traditional Buddhist mala (rosary) that are counted during meditation and the concept of balance in all aspects of life.

Community reaction and feedback to the rotation rates and other concepts presented in the installation of this new work will be incorporated into Jenning’s future exhibitions. Colby Jennings is Assistant Professor of Digital Art and Computer Animation at Missouri State University and has exhibited nationally and internationally, including in Chicago, New York, Portland, Greece and the Netherlands.

Artist’s Statement by Colby Jennings

“Balance, as an installation, is work influenced by a Zen story which is meant to encourage the pursuit of healthy balance… not just in one’s work or family, but in all things.  There are many layers to this work, as is evidenced in the path that led here, but for me they all center on culture… our regional culture here in the Midwest.  This project is a continuing work in progress with the end-goal of creating opportunities for self-reflection on one’s own state of balance.”