'9 was 6 if' (2005) by Swedish artist Christian Andersson,
filmed at Studio A, Otterndorf, Germany.

Sit back and let this film take its time.

(Please note that it is a true documentation of the art installation, no movie tricks or computer renderings.)

Lo-fi versions also available at Facebook
facebook.com/video/video.php?v=20703397032
and Google Video (lower quality)
video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4041398544389975217
and YouTube (lower quality & shorter version)
youtube.com/watch?v=YaDTJq1GYTg

The construction and realization of this artwork grew into an insanely huge project, but the three of us had a wonderful time with it. How to make ordinary rigid physical objects change their appearance completely, to the point of merging into each other and change places in our minds, setting aside our conceptions of the physical world?

The starting point was an impossible idea with unknown potential. Various materials and techniques were examined for months at the Art & Technology department at Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg, Sweden. Idea after idea was rejected after proving insufficient or unrealizable, and in this process the only practically possible solution emerged. In a mist of solvents, paint, glue, stress, madmanship, and the soothing music of Ulrich Schnauss, we then built the artwork - partly on location in Germany until the last second before opening. We never knew whether it would work or not, but it did. Lucky us!

Labour needed: approx 1 man-year.
Total cost: 5-digit in any currency.

Research and construction by:

Christian Andersson ( christianandersson.net )
Svante Hermansson ( dillchip.com )
Mattias Rickardsson ( analogue.org/mr )

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Artwork info:

'9 was 6 if' (2005) by Christian Andersson

Copper plate, paper, thermochrome paint, heating/cooling system, hose, wood, carpet, electric lights

Shown at:

'A Whiter Shade Of Pale'
Studio A, Otterndorf, Germany, 2005

Göteborg International Biennal for Contemporary Art
Konstmuséet, Gothenburg, Sweden, 2005