Thomas Julier

Puzzle of a Maze
November 12 - December 17, 2022

With Puzzle of a Maze, Thomas Julier invites us to explore an object that structures and measures time, just like a clock. 

The center piece of the exhibition is a video animation of a sphere with a structured surface, turning on its axis in a void. Slowly, the sphere splits up. The shards gravitate away and then gradually reconfigure, all the while continuing to rotate on the axis of the sphere.

Puzzle of a Maze establishes an interplay between physical and virtual representations of the clock-like rotating sphere. A selection of shards have been 3D printed in stainless steel and drawn with a pen by a machine. These works correspond to files stored on the Interplanetary File System, which can be accessed by means of an app. The app enables visitors to explore the artwork, and it allows the owners to view their tokens and to vote on future developments of the work, which will take place in virtual and physical spaces.

A reference point on the Ethereum blockchain synchronises all playbacks of the video, whether you watch it on the app or in the exhibition. Everyone observes exactly the same moment in the continuous process of disintegration and reintegration of the rotating sphere. It becomes a shared temporal reference point for all viewers, just like a clock.

The app has been developed in collaboration with Philippe and Laurent Meyer.
The sphere has been designed in collaboration with Daniel Julier.
Puzzle of a Maze is generously supported by Ernst und Olga Gubler-Hablützel Stiftung.