day 6. relations

By this stage of the workshop, each participant has begun developing a kinetic object with its own movement logic and character. On Day 6, the focus shifts from the individual sculpture to the relationships between the different bodies in the sculpture garden.

Each character now has a presence: a visual appearance, a type of movement, and a rhythm. The question becomes: how do these characters interact with each other?

Participants will examine different models of interaction by looking at several works by Jean Tinguely, where machines are connected in ways that produce collective behaviors—sometimes synchronized, sometimes chaotic, sometimes sequential.

The objective of the day is to develop principles of interaction between the kinetic objects participants have built. These interactions may be mechanical, spatial, rhythmic, or dramaturgical.

Exercise 1 — Character Observation

Participants place their sculptures in the space and observe them running individually.

Questions explored:

• What is the rhythm of this object?
  
• Is its movement continuous, interrupted, nervous, slow, repetitive?
  
• Does it feel aggressive, shy, playful, fragile?
  

Participants write a short character description of their sculpture as if it were a performer.

Exercise 2 — Human Prototyping

Before connecting the machines, participants test interaction models with their own bodies.

Each participant embodies their sculpture’s movement while moving in the space with others. They experiment with:

• Imitation: two bodies mirror each other’s rhythm
  
• Reaction: one movement triggers another
  
• Delay: one body follows another after a time lag
  
• Resistance: two movements collide or interrupt each other
  

This exercise helps participants understand interaction patterns physically before translating them into mechanical relationships.

Exercise 3 — Mechanical Dialogues

Participants then place two or three sculptures together and explore simple forms of interaction.

Possible interaction models include:

• Synchronization: two machines share a similar rhythm
  
• Chain reaction: one movement triggers another movement
  
• Contrast: one fast machine next to a slow one
  
• Interruption: one object blocks or interferes with another
  

Participants can experiment with mechanical connections such as strings, rods, shared motors, or simple triggers.

Exercise 4 — Spatial Choreography

The sculptures are then arranged in the space as a proto–sculpture garden.

Participants explore:

• distance between objects
  
• movement pathways
  
• visual composition
  
• sound and rhythm of multiple machines
  

The goal is to begin imagining the final installation as a collective choreography of mechanical characters rather than isolated objects.

Outcome of the Day

By the end of the session, participants will have defined how their sculptures relate to at least one other sculpture, establishing the first network of interactions that will structure the final kinetic garden performance.