EMDAS1
a machine that creates work
Aside from the accumulation of capital and the collection of source material,
balanced systems rely on the principle of waste.
If this economic presumption is accepted as true, it leads to the following rule
of adjustment: "Whoever builds high, must dig deep nearby"
I transform this paradox body of rules and regulation into a tangible situation:
A machine digs itself into sand,
is then excavated by an employee,
only to be able to dig itself into the sand again.
Operating procedure
Stage 1: The machine digs itself into sand.
It celebrates an elusive spectacle of sand.
Stage 2: Being missing.
Stage 3: The employee appears, looks for the machine with the help of a metal detector
and carefully digs out the machine. Using a rope winch, the machine is lifted onto a
maintenance rack. The employee then takes care of service and maintenance (inspection
of contactors, removal of all interfering sand) and replaces the batteries.
The machine is then put once more into starting position; the scattered sand is swept
up and poured through a filter. Subsequently, the cleansed sand is taken back to the
sand container and the refuse is cleared away. The employee then gathers his/her tools
and remains lost from sight until his/her next work assignment.
Demonstration of the three stages
The machine creates work: The employee
Every time the machine is presented, someone needs to be hired to do the job. The chosen
employee will get a contract of labour and fair wages, even if his work (the digging up
of the machine) does not contribute to the gross national product, but is itself
part of the wastage.
Development
In cooperation with Martin Bischoff, Frank Ellendt and Herbert Frassek,
I have constructed a test model which I have subsequently built at the locksmithery
Brengelman/Teppelmann in Bruchhausen Vilsen. The prototype is 50 cm in height and
weighs 19 kilogram.
As a scholarship holder from the Edith-Ruß-Haus for Media Art and with a sponsorship
of the foundation of Lower-Saxony, I was able to develop the functioning machine
as a prototype. EMDAS1 will be 130 cm in height and rest on 8 tons of Weser sand
(sand from the river Weser). The operating voltage will amount to 12 V and the
digging process will last for up to one hour.
At the Reuleaux-Haus of the Technical University Berlin, I was able to determine,
with the help of a telemetry system, the exact torsional moment.
In close cooperation
with Fabian Glaß, EMDAS1 was constructed using CAD. We have developed a transmission
system, which will provide for the power needed for the operation.
Milestones
Transmission system, self-construction
Transmission ratio 1 : 1050, torsional moment at blades up to 120 nm
technical realisation: Fabian Glaß
Under laboratory conditions: the first of five rotation layers is tested in the sand
film still | Edith-Ruß-Haus für Medienkunst, Oldenburg 2010
Set up draft, Jana Linke, Berlin 2010
The machine consists of five counter-rotating rotation layers. Each layer is provided
with its own transmission system and its own engine.
The production is carried out in collaboration with a list of individuals, companies and
institutes, willing to provide knowledge, workspace
and/ or material.
listen to radiointerview | Kulturjournal, Nordwestradio
Credits
technical realisation: Fabian Glaß
technical support: Martin Bischoff, Herbert Frassnek,
Frank Ellendt, Conrad Harlan, Michael Linke, Niklas Roy
Production support:
metal work:
Günter Penner, feine Mechanik Berlin
Jürgen Tepelmann, Schlosserei Brengelmann
Kowalski Feinmechanik, Berlin
TINTEC Metalltechnik, Hilgermissen
shape work:
Jürgen Kehlenbeck
Michael Brauer, Brauer GFK Berlin
milling: Mathias Kuhl, CNC lab, UdK Berlin
made possible with:
Universität der Künste Berlin
Institut für Konstruktionstechnik
dowel pins
laminated fabric
expanded plastic foam
screws
cog wheel / belt sprocket
drive belt
pictures design model: Nadine Minkwitz | Labor K1 Berlin, 2008
engine