Uncertainty Principle

In this kinetic pendant, the top disk spins, and when it stops, the opal points to a particular symbol. I affixed tiny mirrors to the underside of the top disc so that when it spins, if viewed from the back, one can see fragmented reflections of the self through the pierced shapes within the wire granulation.

The language of symbols is fascinating, and I grieve that there are hardly any indicative of contemporary American culture (At the time I created this piece, there were no smart phones, and emojis were still new and typed with punctuation marks.) To solve this lack, I drew from various other sources to pull together my own, ironic, pidgin, symbolic language. Among those I chased on the sides and front are the alchemical symbols for fire, pregnant woman, and the Norwegian hobo ideogram for "safe to sleep in the barn."

The title refers to the law in quantum physics, meaning it is impossible to know simultaneously both the exact location of a particle and its velocity. It was a perfect metaphor for my often fragmented life. The only way I know where I am is when I stop moving at full speed.

26" chain