The Whirling World

By Annabel Tennyson-Davies

Annabel’s practice explores the phenomenon of vertigo using her personal experience of stability/instability. She often uses her own figurative form as the basis for her experimentation and amalgamates physical and digital outputs to resolve the issues of balance.

“Our planet whirls and while it revolves we strive to remain balanced. The Whirling World highlights the hidden role of our inner ears and their effects on attaining physical balance in our everyday lives. It is the result of my investigations into physical stability and the mechanisms which negate it; issues presented by my continuing vertigo. I take a humorous examination of mechanisms involved, offering sculptural solutions to maintain equilibrium when things go wrong. We view ear windows’ through the windows and the other structures which in reality are small and hidden, now become centre stage and larger than life, separate yet interacting, striving for stability in the whirling world. Instead of being glued to the floor, sculptures are suspended from the ceiling, free to whirl or remain stationary depending on the prevailing conditions inside the window. The component parts of the inner ears, normally just millimetres long in the human ear are reimagined in sizes visible to passers-by and in eye catching colours.”

Annabel uses recycled materials including: old newspapers and discarded household materials such as paint and wood. Sculptures are suspended using the ratchet straps she uses to hold her larger 3D print works steady after gluing. Annabel embraces how 3D print resolves issues of physical balance through Al generated supports, leaving them in as a perfect solution.

The Whirling World was on display from Friday 9th August until Friday 13th September.

Watch the full digital exhibition video guide online on our YouTube channel.