THROWN

Thrown launches itself from the simple interactions between tennis balls and the gallery audience: Sensing the movement of visitors in the space, one of the five tennis ball machines emits a brief twitter – part greeting, part warning, before starting two high-speed motors and firing balls that are released from hoppers at the top of the equipment. The ball mechanisms stand upright amidst arrays of blue LED strip lights: lines that mark out a court of sorts – a structure that helps guide visitor movement through the installation. Scattered among them, optic-yellow balls punctuate the floor in an ever-changing pattern orchestrated by the algorithm of the work. From on top of high-chairs two attendants in tennis attire witness events with apparent indifference to the ensuing chaos: Otherwise falling to acknowledge activities in the space the attendants are suddenly animated by a shrill siren emitted by the machines when they are empty. At this point, leaping down from their chairs, the attendants transform, and, assuming the role of ball-people rather than umpire, they hastily gather the balls and restock the machines before returning to their sedentary role.