Stone Balancing Art
Canada-born and Colorado-based artist and photographer Michael Grab is a master of stone balancing. Perhaps magician’s a better word for it, actually, as it’s difficult to comprehend how he could have created his graceful works of balance art.
“Over the past few years of practicing rock balance, simple curiosity has evolved into therapeutic ritual, ultimately nurturing meditative presence, mental well-being, and artistry of design,” writes Grab on his artist statement. “Alongside the art, setting rocks into balance has also become a way of showing appreciation, offering thanksgiving, and inducing meditation.”
How Does Stone Balancing Work?
To create the structures and balance rocks, Michael doesn’t use any kind of adhesive. The only thing holding them together is his attention to detail and the laws of gravity. According to Michael, the process is more complicated than the structure itself. You need:
- On-the-fly problem-solving skills
- Steady hands
- A whole heap of patience
With this, there is a key aspect to balancing objects with irregular surfaces that are completely different from one to another. For stone balancing to work, it takes finding the right number of contact points and complementary surfaces.
“Most solid balance points are the result of two surfaces coming together, ideally one concave and one convex, so the two rocks essentially hug one another via 3 (minimum) contact points per balance point.“
“finding balance points to work with is another huge dimension of the creative process that goes mostly under the radar in photographs. the natural shapes of the rocks are really the only limitation I have to work with.“
“one of the most useful points of advice I’ve encountered thus far for advancing skill was a bit from Bill Dan a few years ago. once you finish a creation, spend some time looking at it. from as many angles as possible. then take it apart and build it again with a slight complication (more rocks, smaller balance points, counterbalancing, etc).“
Sources:
- https://youtu.be/puv_cHwT22Y
- https://www.demilked.com/gravity-glue-stone-balancing-michael-grab/
- https://www.solidsmack.com/design/stone-balancing-unreal-stone-sculptures-michael-grab/
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