Days of Inertia

Days of Inertia is a sculpture comprised of multiple fragments of ceramic tiles, randomly broken and scattered on the floor. Their amazingly shiny surface vibrates slightly, but it’s not a simple varnish: the edge of these fragments are treated with a water-repellent coating that acts as an invisible boundary to contain a liquid poured over it. The result is reflecting fragments covered with calm water.

This sculpture by Nina Canell engages the viewer with is physical and chemical phenomenon. The transformation of simple materials – here, ceramic and water – and the creation of ephemeral relations are recurrent themes in her work that gives body to the lightness of every day life.

Contrasting water to an immobility that provides energy, the work Days of Inertia by Nina Canell draws a rigorous poetry from the scientific process.