‘Raindrop’ at Ars Electronica

‘Raindrop’ is an artwork by Graphic & Media Design Senior Lecturer, Alistair McClymont, showing at Ars Electronica, September 2021 as part of the exhibition “There Is No Planet B”. The exhibition not only illustrates the urgency of the climate emergency; it also points out that there are potential solutions and a growing social commitment to dealing with the crisis.

Alistair McClymont’s artwork is a continuing process of discovery and experimentation, ranging across a variety of materials and practices. Each piece follows the last in a continual journey of investigation into cultural and physical phenomena.

‘Raindrop’ is a drop of water in freefall: inspired by a 1970s experiment by Saunders and Wong, a machine creates a vertical flow of air, shaped to capture a drop of water, allowing an audience to stand beside a falling raindrop.

“‘Raindrop’ comprises a machine built to allow a drop of water to hover in mid-air. Viewing this translucent, jewel-like object instils a very bodily sense of unease. Arrested in free-fall, its form mechanically maintained in a seeming repudiation of basic physics, the stationary raindrop throws us off balance, making us feel as though we were plummeting to the ground in its place.”

Tom Morton

alistairmcclymont.com/artwork/raindrop
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