Shin Shin, Santa Monica, CA

Artist Statement

BALANCING ACT rethinks the traditional Sukkah by creating a space with an active equilibrium. Rather than understanding the roof, walls, and seats as separate built elements, each are integrated to form a dynamic environment. The open woven roof extends itself into long seats, forming walls that float above that are lightly tethered the ground.

Each person who sits in BALANCING ACT contributes to its synergy. Seats placed across from each other are connected, causing varying degrees of movement depending upon which seats are occupied. This fosters an unexpected type of social interaction, in which the person sitting across from you, rather than next to you, is the weight acting as your counterbalance.

BALANCING ACT has a simple assembly composed of two main elements; a circular wood frame erected on site, and six repeated fabric loops made offsite that slip through eye-bolt hardware fixed to the frame. The pairs of seats intersect at the ceiling, forming the infrastructure for the s’chach. The seat backs are made of a thick yet slightly flexible perforated neoprene fabric that becomes more transparent as it stretches.