Photo: Yasuhiro Chida
Limited edition
Transparent ver. 2,500 EUR
Black ver. 2,500 EUR
2015
Acrylic, Stainless steel
400mm x 47mm x 200m
This work allows one to experience the fastest speed possible in this universe. When the first gear in the center is rotated at a speed of one revolution per second, the fifth gear moves at the speed of sound, while the 7th, 8th, and 9th gears move at the first astronautical velocity, second astronautical velocity, and third astronautical velocity respectively. The 14th gear moves at the speed of light, while the last gear moves at a speed of about 900,000 km/s (955,248km/s, in fact). This last figure is about three times the speed of light (299,792 km/s), the speed at which the universe is thought to be expanding. However, the gear in the center does not move even if one tries to get it going, because a massive amount of power is required for the contraption to turn, up until the last gear. Additionally, in order to approach the speed of light, an infinite amount of energy is needed. As such, it is not possible for objects to exceed the speed of light.
Conversely, if one rotates the last gear, one can observe the last four or so gears rotating slowly. If you rotate the last gear about 13 billion times (13,220,219,761 times to be exact), the gear in the center will make one revolution. One can get a sense of the speed of light and the expansion of the universe by observing how the rotations become slower as one proceeds towards the center.
Three curves are used in this work: an involute curve for the teeth of the gear, the circle of the gear, and the golden spiral found in the configuration of the gears. The height, length, and width of this work and the number of teeth on each gear are all prime numbers. As such, until the last gear is rotated 13.2 billion times, the positions of the gears will never come together in the same combination twice. <D.W>
これは宇宙最速を体験出来る作品です。真ん中にある1枚目の歯車を1秒に1回転の速さで回すと、5枚目は音速、7、8、9枚目はそれぞれ第1、第2、第3宇宙速度、14枚目は光速、最後の歯車は1秒で約90 万㎞ (955,248 ㎞) の速さで回る仕組みになっています。これは光の速さ(299,792 ㎞/s) の約3倍で、この速度で宇宙が広がっていると考えられています。しかし、真ん中の歯車を回そうとしても動きません。最後の歯車まで回すためには、膨大な力が必要なためです。また、光速に近づけるにはエネルギーが無限に必要になることから、物体が光速を超えることはありません。
反対に最後の歯車を回すと、最後から4枚目くらいまでの歯車がゆっくりと回るのを見ることができます。最後の歯車を約132 億回(13,220,219,761 回) 回すと、真ん中の歯車が1回転します。光や、宇宙の広がる速さがどれほどのものなのか、真ん中に向かって歯車の回転がゆっくりになることから体感出来ます。
この作品には、歯車の歯のエンボリュート曲線、歯車の円、歯車の配置の黄金螺旋と、3 種類の曲線が用いられています。また、作品の縦横高さ、歯車の歯の数は全て素数で作られており、 最後の歯車を132 億回回すまで、歯車の位置が同じ組み合わせになることはありません。