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A sculpture on wheels that might not be able to move an inch, but is record-breakingly fast when simply standing still.
The Blue Cocoon premiered in 2006 at JEC in Paris, a trade show for composites. An attraction of the unexpected kind stood there, surrounded by high-efficiency wind turbine blades and racing yachts: a sculpture intended to arouse the enthusiasm of professionals for a totally new material.
Marco Ganz’s first works, the Reclining Sculptures, were streamlined high-precision forms. Two years later, he sketched their successor: a ballistic racer with a surreal, seemingly weightless floating body. It manifested not only his fascination with the gestalt of speed but also his passion for constructing sculptural objects. His insights into lightweight design allowed him to actually build the Blue Cocoon six years later.
The body of this sculpture is hollow and consists merely of an ultralight, thin-walled carbon fiber sandwich structure. The novel material used for the project had its global debut: an initially soft foam that cures with electron-beam crosslinking. Ganz developed the required tooling explicitly for the Blue Cocoon.
It is due to a bold vision, fortunate circumstances, experienced craftsmen, and the financial support of innovative industrial workshops that this sculpture was built in the first place. The 28.5-feet long Blue Cocoon, now owned by the artist, does not fit in any conventional category. So it remains to be seen where this capricious object will stage its next appearance.
Donald Campbell, September 2012
Infotext (.doc)
Atelier Ganz · Asylstrasse 15 · 8032 Zürich
www.marcoganz.ch · m@marcoganz.ch
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