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These Sculptures Mimic the Fragility of a Jurassic Rainforest

The principle of “tensegrity” takes to the Australian rainforest, thanks to sticks, elastic, and artists Jonathon Bolitho and Harry Hock.
‘Beneath Our Feet’ structures in Australia’s Scenic World, New South Wales. All photographs by Jonathon Bolitho and Harry Hock. All photos courtesy of Jonathon Bolitho.

"Tensegrity" is the structural principle of binding isolated components inside a net of continuous tension—sort of like a forcefield, but for real physics. In Beneath Our Feet, Australian artists Jonathon Bolitho and Harry Hock use found sticks and elastic to visualize this notion of tensegrity. Like the fragile ecosystems they float in, the objects in Beneath Our Feet are under constant threat of deterioration… or full collapse. Should one of the pieces of a stick, or a band of elastic fail, the entire structure will succumb.

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Bolitho and Hock created the work in response to a call for artwork at Scenic World, a tourist attraction in a Jurassic rainforest in New South Wales, Australia. Bolitho describes it to The Creators Project as “an elevated boardwalk that snakes through old rainforest. Harry and I both went there a lot as kids, doing a lot of bush walks around Sydney and exploring nature. It's hard not to be romantic when talking about nature, but we have both studied horticulture and have this affinity for plants and the natural world, which of course has formed a huge part of our artistic practice.”

“We wanted something that would showcase the existing beauty of the surrounding rainforest," Bolitho continues, "rather than simply making a sculpture that would be exhibited in the rainforest. Being conscious of place and context led us to create Beneath Our Feet, a work that is connected to its surroundings both physically and conceptually in the way it models a rainforest ecosystem.”

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Bolitho says the biggest challenge while putting together the project was a simple one: finding the sticks. “They had to be super straight and all the same lengths," he explains. "Also the process of constructing the forms was challenging because of the fact we were using elastic: the structure itself is held together without glue or anything, relying on its own tensile strength. This means that when you're making the form it kind of fights against itself, which for us basically meant a giant rubber band to the face at any given moment.”

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“We were fascinated by this concept,” Bolitho says, “because it's present in many biological forms and also conceptually it mimics the function of a rainforest ecosystem. Without one element, the system is susceptible to collapse.” Bolitho adds, he feels extremely lucky to have worked in such a pristine natural environment: “It's such a rare opportunity.”

And, while he and Hock are currently working in a more urbanized setting, they’ll definitely be applying for more work in Scenic World next year.

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Check out the Beneath Our Feet and more projects on Jonathon Bolitho’s page and Harry Hock’s page.

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