Floater #01 - Oscillation of the Sea

#01 on Floatation / Floater Magazine suggests an inventory of floatation mechanisms within architecture; Without Stability, Without Foundation / Flip is an ocean research platform that capsizes in order to maintain its stability. Yannikos Vassiloulis presents the mechanism of this paradoxical stability / Armin Linke’s images of astronauts and divers project the realities of a utopian body equipped with prosthetics that provide the ability to exist in conditions of No Gravitation / Wave Garden by Yusuke Obuchi and Meduseabloo by b. are performative, highly intelligent environments capable of collecting and administrating data / In 1968, Takis invented Oscillation of the Sea; a device that translates the motion of the sea surface into kinetic energy / Dimitris Antonakakis describes the chronicle of an unusual project commissioned to Atelier66; redesigning the cruiser Libra Y the parameters of instability and non foundation demarcate a new territory for the architect / Louisa Adam explores architectural strategies and practices within contemporary cultural concerns, commenting on OMA’s Harbour of Ideas / Nikos Navridis cooperated with floater magazine for the production of a digital representation of his recent show Tomorrow will be a Wonderful Day... / Evi Sougara's interactive animation is based on J. Swift's Laputa; a mythical island from the novel Gulliver's Travels / Takis Zenetos’ Electronic Urban Planning Utopia is negotiated in juxtaposition with Maurizio Cattelan’s installation Mise-en-Scene. Nikos Tsimas declares floatation experiences as parameters that can provoke feelings of Pleasure and Awe / Micro-organisations, by Elysa Lozano, reflects the socio-political realities of Sealand's micronation, where the artist explores the potential of registering and developing a not for profit organization / in Floating and Sinking in Psychoanalysis Nikos Sideris analyses the mechanisms of floating and sinking in relation to both psychic structure and spatiality / Giorgos Lagoudakis suggests legal aspects of Floating Territories presenting specific archival cases along with the relative legal texts.

Floater #01 edited by Yannis Arvanitis, Elina Axioti, Yannis Papayannakis, Evi Sougara, Eleni Spiridaki, Yannikos Vassiloulis / Fall 2008.

Oscillation Of The Sea
Takis
Text: Antonis Kiourktsis

In 1968, sculptor Takis during his scholarship at the M.I.T. Center of Advanced Visual Studies had the chance to collaborate with some scientists and engineers. At that period, his interests focused on an idea that he had came up with in 1955. He used to visit Venice in the summers and it was there, while waiting on the floating piers for the vaporettos to St Marco´s square, where he first experienced, 'the power of the sea&'. Those piers, although full of people, moved really intensively. Normally one´s first impression would be to relate the move of the piers to the waves of the passing vaporettos. Takis though, observed that even on the calm sea surface, the big boats that were docked and loaded with stones, continued to move.

'Many times, I approached the loaded boats, and I tried to hold them still, but I couldn´t make it. The existence of the invisible sea power was more than obvious.'

This observation was a revelation for Takis and this is how his first plan for the construction of his kinetic sculptures and the production of electricity through the power of the sea, arouse.

On the 6th, of October 1968, he conducted, along with Professor Aien Sonin, his first experiment, on the Black River coast, at Hingham Bay. The experiment was successful, and Takis invented a device that transformed the motion of the sea surface into kinetic energy. This invention was called Oscillation of the Sea; and soon began to attract the interest of Treadwell, a scientific corporation that specialised in engineering and construction. The corporation came into agreement with Takis and bought the invention in order to use it for commercial purposes. According to the agreement:

'Takis had invented a device that translates the motion of the surface of a body of water. This device is characterized by:
a) its ability to translate such motion even if the motion is similar to that normally found in calm bodies of water and therefore of less than one inch of amplitude.
b) its ability to translate the sea surface motion into fixed velocity rotary or fixed frequency reciprocal motion, or combinations of them, even if the motion of the surface of water is not of a fixed frequency. This can be achieved by introducing into the mechanism that translates such motion an energy accumulator of a mechanical or of pneumatic nature (e.g. wound coil spring with pawl release or a hydraulic accumulator with pressure or flow regulation).
c) Its ability, to translate, if desired, the mechanical motion into electrical energy by rotating a generator or by reciprocating a core within a coil. This would also provide the possibility of accumulating the generated electrical energy into condensers or batteries.
d) Its ability to translate motion propagated on the surface of a body of water, when the axis of such motion is in any direction, absolutely, or relative to the device'.

In parallel to his invention, Takis constructed a sculpture, tribute to Marchel Duchamp (who died on October 2nd 1968), by applying the main concept of the Oscillation of the Sea and translating the motion energy of the sea surface into the kinetic energy that spins a bicycle wheel similar to Marchel Duchamp´s Bicycle Wheel from his Readymades collection. Takis named his sculpture Hommage a Marchel Duchamp.

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