Yin Yang Thang

Yin Yang Thang #1 is a kinetic outdoor sculpture made of wood, rubber, copper and water. The transferring weight of water from one copper box to another causes the continuous see-sawing of the horizontal ladder.

The dimensions of the sculpture are 87" h x 18" w x 96" d. The sculpture is partly inspired by the functional Japanese deer scarer garden and agricultural device known as Shishi-odoshi. The Shishi-odoshi protects crops by scaring away deer and other herbivores by creating sharp noises as a shifting bamboo tube bangs loudly against a rock.

This sculpture makes reference to the dependence of opposites on each other. The movement of the sculpture reflects this dependence or symbiosis as each copper box supplies a force counter to the other. The "yin yang" of this relationship is what philosopher Alan Watts meant when he wrote that, "opposites are distinct features of a unified process". There is no "up" without "down".