Star Gauge - Ron Siu

Star Gauge

2022, series of phenakistoscope "pinwheels". Installed for NACHTPFLANZEN II at La Datcha, curated by Jess Groome. Berlin, Germany

Star Gauge is aseries of phenakistoscopes part of the group exhibition, NACHTPFLANZEN II, installed in the garden project space of La Datcha. Phenakistoscopes are disk-shaped animation devices the work via optical illusion. Figures are arranged around a phenakistoscope's centre that then become animated when spun and viewed through means of a mirror.

This series loosely explores the Chinese cosmological concept of 'Wuxing' or 'The 5 Elements'. In Wuxing, the elements (wood, water, fire, earth and metal) are representatives for phases of change and interrelation. These forces are said to govern a wide range of seemingly unrelated things from the different seasons, health and the body, to even cycles of political movements. Taking loosely associated attributes often listed under each element (ex. Metal-Intuition), these phenakistoscopes serve as personal ruminations on cycles of change, forward and backward momentum, chaos and emotional growth, and the never-ending weight of time.