Perception of Sugar Cube[s] As:
1] unit of space, 2] unit of energy, 3] statistic, 4] marker, 5] individual elements, 6] mass body, 7] individual elements, 8] food, 9] desire, 10] point zero.
1] + 2] Initially it was clear to me that the sugar cubes are, like all forms, a unit of space and a unit of energy but at the same time, a concentrate of these properties. The cube exemplifies regimented dimensionality and "obviates the necessity of inventing other forms and reserves their use for invention" (LeWitt, 1967), whilst the sugar itself allows an understanding of the form in terms of calorific value and a determinable amount of potential energy. In essence, the sugar cube is quantifiable.
3] The ideas of quantity lead me on to my next point, which is the sugar cube as 'statistic'. Each one could have a number and therefore be traceable within the system of the relocation, whilst at the same time, belong to the world of multiplicity. "It is possible to define this multiplicity... in terms of the conditions of frequency, or rather accumulation , of a set of vicinities" (Deleuze and Guattari, 1988:285) with the repetition of form creating statistical opportunities.
4] In treating the sugar cubes as 'marker' I endeavoured to view them as a trace of action and architecture: the line they draw navigating a path traversed and an area demarcated. For, momentarily "released from the necessity of being significant in themselves, they can be better used as grammatical devices from which the work may proceed". (LeWitt, 1967)
5] The point at which I truly understand the sugar cubes to be individual elements is during their laying (the Event) when I proceed to locate each, one after another, with a 5mm gap between, in the continuous line. Once placed, I can no longer alter the cube's position as it has now entered the relocation system.
6] Each one of the 5625 cubes has now become part of a mass body: that which was done. The line is now drawn.
7] It is at this point that the Aftermath begins and each cube again becomes a discreet considerable unit that undertakes the process of re-relocation. As a parent tracks the journey of the child's first steps, as the botanist records the data of the plant's growth, I document the dissipation of the sugar cubes. Kicked, crushed, picked up, thrown, blown, rolled, dropped, dissolved.
8] And eaten. And all at once the humanity strikes. Insects and humans side by side: converting the potential energy into the actuality of survival.
9] And it is my desire to 'do', and follow through, to select and reject variables. The "mechanic assemblages of desire" (Deleuze and Guattari, 1988:22) that sets-up-to-run a process which enables something to happen, with the resultant understanding that once the process has played itself out and the structure breaks apart, one is then able to understand the constituent parts in a new light. The co-ordinates become vectors as movement is mapped and quantitative analysis again plays a role.
10] The sugar cube as Point Zero:
Minutia --------------------------------- [] ----------------------------- Immensity
Quantum ------ Nuclei ------ Human ------ Galaxies ------ Universe
10 -27 -------------------------- 0 --------------------------- 10 27
RELATED PAGES:
>>Sugar, The Universe and Nothing
>>Exercises In Relocation...