Fearful Symmetry

Overview

Fearful Symmetry was an interactive kinetic installation commissioned by Tate Modern in London's Southbank for the Undercurrent programme which inaugurated its new 'live art' space, The Tanks, in July 2012. The concrete chamber of the southern tank, 32m in diameter and 7m tall, had previously lain dormant for decades cloaked in darkness. In response to the site, a living luminaire was built which revealed the dramatic space as it moved around the gallery interacting with the visiting public. The installation created a playful interactive environment in which both the visitors and the space became active performers.

Ruairi Glynn designed, fabricated and installed a completely bespoke, suspended robotic rig to 'puppeteer' above the visiting public a tetrahedral structure wrapped in electroluminescent sheet material. Developed over the course of 12 months in collaboration with experts in fabrication, lighting, robotics, mechanical engineering, puppetry, sound engineering and computer science, the final outcome was the largest ever robot of its kind. Built with a very limited budget for the scale of the gallery it would inhabit, the amplifying effect of coupling of light, sound and movement were used to fully inhabit and activate the space.

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