The project
Aqua Dice, in association with Fortune Cubed, is a kinetic sculpture consisting of two large sea going dice (9 m3) that will be launched into the Atlantic Ocean from the Canary Islands sometime between the 25th and the 30th of November 2012, weather permitting.
Designed to be unstable the dice will be pushed by the wind and rolled by the ocean’s waves and currents. They will probably cross the Atlantic propelled only by natural forces.
This ode to luck sung on the high seas will follow the same path that explorers, slaves and immigrants, their fates vitally intertwined, followed to the New World hundreds of years ago. What were the ships these people were traveling on if not giant dice rolling their way towards new frontiers?
Aqua Dice is also a celebration of pure chance. There is no mathematical model in the world that can predict the outcomes or the destinations of these dice rolling on the ocean.
Each die will be equipped with electronic beacons so that it may be easily followed by satellite.
The dice will pose virtually no threat to navigation ( I can provide more details about this if necessary).
Aqua Dice was inspired in part by the poetry of the Frenchmen Mallarme and his work “ A Roll of The Dice Will Never Abolish Chance” and Rimbaud’s work “The Drunken Ship”. It is also inspired by my many years of sailing and my sculptural works that not only speak of the sea but are installed there.
Below is a sample of such work. This piece was entitled Drift Pedestal and was set into the Gulf Stream off of the coast of New England in 2008.
Before this I started working on small tidal ponds. The work below was done in 1997 and is called
North x North. It was located off of the Sassafrass River in Maryland, USA:
Aqua Dice will be carrying cargo. This will include bottled water from the Teror Water Company, and Tovarich Vodka as well as copies of the poems that inspired this voyage. In addition to Mallarme's and Rimbaud's works will be Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart and The Number and The Mermaid by Quentin Meillassoux.
Of course there will be the crew list onboard naming all the patrons, such as yourself perhaps, of Aqua Dice.
Last comments