Ping Pong

João Maria Gusmão & Pedro Paiva
Ping Pong
2013
59.7 x 85.4 x 44.0 cm
Bronze

What comes to your mind when you look at the sculpture in front of you?

This bronze statue can exist for several hundred years due to its attributions. Yet, the quality this work expresses include another passage of time. As the title suggests, this is a ping pong ball jumping, in other words, split seconds of exercised time made into a sculpture.

We know that the visualisation of movement was once realised by photography. The movement was expressed through series of photographs with horses galloping, either their feet on or not on the ground. We may say that this artwork is a sculpture of photography. We may consider it from another angle, that this is a sculpture of the orbit itself. The orbit draws a parabola that is usually invisible to the eye, yet something constantly operating around us. It is a given fact based on the laws of physics, a universal and immutable fact. This may be at the core of this work.

Various contrasts and analogies can be drawn from this work; weight and lightness, colour and texture, changes in time and transformations in space. At first glance, it's a simple and humorous work, but João Maria Gusman and Pedro Paiva encourage us to delve into the abundance of thoughts through this piece.

(Commentary: Mizuki Endo / Translation: Emma Tsuji Harrison)