Arlo Mountford, Samson Push Burden 2007

Samson Push Burden, 2007

Another work developed for The Flux of the Matter this work directly referenced Chris Burden’s work Samson from 1985. In Samson a 100 hundred ton jack pushed against the walls of the gallery. Each time a viewer entered the gallery via a turnstile, pressure on the walls increased. Part homage, part lampoon Samson Push Burden exerted pressure on the center column at Gertrude Contemporary via a car jack, each time a viewer entered the gallery. (the Gertrude St, Fitzroy iteration of this fabulous institution). However, the timber pushing against the column was made of foam. Subsequently the foam timber bent more and more in cartoonish fashion, as the audience numbers grew.

Motion Sensor, car jack and gears, foam timber. Dimensions variable.