Floating Monolith

Design Fiction Series

Floating Monolith is an art installation that features an enchanting floating effect achieved through an electromagnetic field. This captivating creation embodies an imaginative and symbolic metaphor of a colossal structure, reminiscent of a Dyson Sphere, evoking thoughts of interstellar travel and the remnants of a future human civilization long after their departure from Earth.

This is a continued project based on “Vessel of The Universe and Lost Pieces”, which fabricates the Dyson Sphere visible and floating on magnetic control.

Please refer to the background story of “Vessel of The Universe and Lost Pieces“

Exhibition on Spring Show of NYU ITP

Monolith

“Monoliths are machines built by an unseen extraterrestrial species whom Clarke dubbed the Firstborn and whom he suggests are the earliest highly intelligent species to evolve in the Milky Way.”

An imaginary symbolic metaphor for future human civilization in universal era, the Monolith represents the shape of Dyson Sphere to capture stellar energy for interstellar travelling, which floats with magnetic field power, and responds to human behaviors.

Images of Monolith from Science Fiction “2001: A Space Odyssey”

The universe itself is essentially granular, that perfect linear, absolute smooth and flat physical models do not exist, while the presence of Monolith represents creations of civilization, which is defined by ruler and compass. In western culture, the icon of Freemasonry is famous for composed of Square and Compasses, and in eastern cultures like Chinese Myth, Fuxi and Nüwa are said to holding Square and Compasses in their hands too, which is the metaphor of Genesis.

Icon of Freemasonry

Fuxi and Nüwa holding Square and Compasses in their hands

刘慈欣：”这块方碑无论以什么样的精度，什么样的角度去测量，其长宽高比永远是精确的9：3：1，分毫不差，没有误差。外星文明以这种方式狂妄的展示了自己的力量。”

Magnetic field

I used the power of magnets combined with electric magnetic coils to generate pulling and pushing power, to make the upper magnet floating. A hall effect sensor in the center gives feedback to the feedback loop to generate current to specified certain coil, thus the upper magnet will be “stretching” and anchored to the centor point.