Conflict is about materials which expand due to temperature differences. Almost every material expands as soon as it becomes warmer, and starts to shrink when it’s temperature drops. We used this phenomenon as a production technique to make objects.

In case of the cross we have attached the metal onto the plastic while the material was minus 80 degrees. By exposing the flat shape to ambient temperature it starts to form itself into a 3d object. It’s moving like an organic living thing and thereby the form will always be adapting in relation to temperature.

The circle is based on the same principle. The white inner circle is just 3 centimetres bigger than the metal ring. By cooling the plastic circle to minus 80 degrees, the circle shrinks exactly enough to fit just into the metal ring. By exposing it to ambient temperature again, the circle starts to expand. Thereby it locks itself and reshapes the metal framework into a somewhat square shape. This is really explaining the power of the expanding of materials due to temperature.

Photography by: Ronald Smits, ZwartFrame.


Dimensions and material:

Circle:
HDPE, coated steel
150 / 8 / 150 cm

Cross:
HDPE, coated steel
90/ 90 / 50 cm

This is a ZwartFrame project made for the ‘Mutant matter’ exhibition by Dutch Invertuals.