Nelson Saiers

Paul Cezanne's take on the still-life helped elevate this genre from its traditionally inferior status to a central style for the cubists ("with an apple I’ll astonish Paris"). The goal of this piece is to honor Cezanne with a new take on the still-life by employing a different apple (Newton's). By its very name, a still-life should have no motion; therefore, a painting with an object on the ceiling should be unsuitable for this genre because the object would be in motion. However, if we first cut the supporting cable, gravity would be "neutralized" inside the room (see below for simple explanation). To an observer in this falling room we would have a still-life as all objects would be at rest from their perspective. Hence, we have created a still-life by paradoxically adding accelerated motion to the work.

The remaining elements in the piece point to Cezanne. The pawn represents models who were asked to "sit like an apple" while enduring his incredibly slow process of painting. The hourglass fixed in time alludes to this snail-like pace. The fact one of his models, Hortense Fiquet, became his wife is referenced by "Pawn Promotion". The strange perspective points to his blatant violation of classic linear perspective which was a gateway to the cubists (Picasso referred to him as his "one and only master"). The unorthodox dimensions of the room also bring into question what is inside and what is outside the room. This hints at Cezanne's affinity for blurring an object’s boundary, thereby making it impossible to know exactly what was inside and outside the object.

Explanation: Since all objects fall at the same rate regardless of their size (including the objects in the room and the room itself), the pawn and hourglass, for example, won’t “move/fall” from their current position on the ceiling.

Jackson Pollock's iconic process of applying paint on a canvas would be have been rendered impossible if his studio was falling. The paints’ failure to reach its intended destination is the result of it falling at the same rate as the canvas. Hence drips of paint on the outside but not the inside of the falling room.

It turns out Pollock's own No. 5 was damaged by the Home Sweet Home moving company, requiring it to be repaired by the artist. In Pollock Stymied No. 5 this incident is referenced by a two-step dripping process where the first coat of paint was deliberately damaged with a squeegee before the second layer of drips was added. The idea that ”No. 5” needs to be repaired is also a reference to the fact that “fixing” Euclid's 5th postulate (in particular the great Bernhard Riemann's work in geometry) was an essential step that allowed for Albert Einstein's revolutionary ideas.

On a related, albeit sad, note, August 11th was both the day Pollock tragically died, and the day cosmonaut Andriyan Nikolayev became the first person to experience zero-gravity (6 years later).

In this painting, a pair of scissors appears ready to cut an elevator cable, which will in turn affect a basketball shot inside an elevator carriage. These images comprise a modern-day tribute to the eventual discovery of gravitational theory. The tea cup and apple-like basketball reminds the viewer of the iconic story of Sir Isaac Newton watching an apple fall while enjoying a cup of tea. The subtle arc point to a violation of Euclid's 5th postulate, and  Bernhard Riemann's work in geometry which played a central role in the mathematics behind General Relativity. The elevator represents Albert Einstein’s 1907 thought experiment which motivated him to develop General Relativity. 

This piece is the most autobiographical of the series referencing the artist's childhood. As a child growing up in Ethiopia during its Civil War, stray bullets would occasionally fall through the ceiling of his home. After one particular incident, his mother placed thick wooden boards on top of his crib. A similar protective effort is suggested by the scissors cutting the cable, sending the room falling and ensuring that the two threats (the crib falling from the ceiling and the menacing blue bullet) are neutralized.

Paul Cezanne's revolutionary style, including his intentional violation of classic linear perspective and his original take on the still life, had a great impact on Picasso This led the co-founder of cubism to refer to him as "a protective mother." This is alluded to by the paradoxical configuration of the room, the line behind the crib, and the motionless crib (from the perspective of a viewer inside the room). Finally, Isaac Newton's relevant quote "What goes up, must come down" is written in the Ethiopian language of Amharic.

Off the Hook pays homage to Salvador Dali with a new take on the still-life. The work's central image is falling as its supporting cable has snapped. With gravity neutralized the phone receiver is no longer able to compress the hook switch so the phone is literally "off the hook". The title also refers to the strange creation of a still-life inside the room whose objects were positioned to fall.

The use of a clock that appears ready to tumble or bend points to Dali's work, "Persistence of Memory". In addition, the title aptly describes the bizarre actions (which included driving 1100 lbs of cauliflower in a Rolls Royce and almost suffocating inside a deep-sea diver’s suit which he wore to an art show) of the surrealist painter with the iconic handlebar mustache.

24 Second Violation refers to a basketball penalty when the “shot clock” runs down to zero. In this piece, the basketball, at the zenith of its arc, is set to go in the basket. But when the room's cable is cut, the basket goes into free fall so the ball travels horizontally in relation to it forever. It won't go in the hoop or hit the rim – so a 24 second violation occurs. The other elements in the work poke fun at this violation and refer to the famous tea party scene in Alice in Wonderland where the March Hare and the Mad Hatter engage in inane conversation, switching seats, dancing and demanding Alice answer their strange puzzles, all with time stopped at 6 o’clock. This is pointed to by the teaspoon, which is clearly suspended perfectly horizontal, defying logic. Isaac Newton, while sipping tea in his mom's backyard (a tree and house were also present at Alice's tea party), was also forced to answer a strange riddle: why apples always fall to the Earth, but the moon doesn't. Just as the White Rabbit obsesses over being tardy, "Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!" so the basketball never comes down, so it is late, resulting in a 24-second violation. The clock's time is stopped at 5 o’clock (instead of the correct 6) referencing the need to change Euclid's 5th postulate to accurately understand gravity. This is also pointed to by the unorthodox laces on the basketball. The painting is purposely unfinished because the artist also symbolically “ran out of time….”

(2015)

The Night Watch is inspired by Rembrandt van Rijn's magnum opus of the same title and Isaac Newton's work in physics. Painted in 1642, the year of Isaac Newton's birth, Rembrandt's The Night Watch is famous for its appearance of motion in what was always a frozen military portrait. Rembrandt's brilliant mastery of chiaroscuro (contrasting light and dark), illuminates 3 objects including a soldier with a prominent hand in the center of the piece. In this version, three objects are also highlighted: a hand with a teacup, cannon, and a "3" button.

Newton's work in physics is centered around his 3 laws of motion and his law of gravity, which was discovered after he "watched" an apple fall while sipping tea. The teacup and saucer are representative of that event. The cannon points to the military subject of Rembrandt's painting and one of the primary objects in Newton's gravitational thought experiments. The inverted square buttons hint at the inverse square law central to his theory of gravity. In contrast to Rembrandt's dynamic work, the teacups' accessories should be in motion (falling), but they are actually at rest inside the carriage (due to the broken elevator cable).

“What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity…a soothing, calming influence on the mind, rather like a good armchair which provides relaxation from physical fatigue” Henri Matisse

This ode to Henri Matisse is inspired by several of his paintings including his nine goldfish bowls paintings and his desire for his art to be a relaxing armchair (green). The purple linen cloth points to textiles which played a major role in his artistic explorations (and he was from a textile town in northern France). Fishbowls in Matisse’s work represented peace and tranquility.

With gravity neutralized (the room is in free fall as its supporting cable has been snapped) the cat, with his hand through the window, is futilely grasping at the fishbowl as it will remain suspended on the ceiling out of reach (all three will fall at the same rate of speed). Unlike the relaxed fish, who are indifferent to the nullified danger, the cubist school didn't feel as comfortable with Matisse's art and threw darts at a portrait he had given to Picasso.

Notes:

Matisse is known as one of the greatest colorists of the 20th century and the colors presented in this work hint at his vibrant, expressive palette. The cat was loosely cut out of a comic and points to his cut-out works. Finally, (in this zero-gravity room) objects float which points to one aspect of Matisse’s “Red Studio” where the portrayed paintings and sculptures appear to float as if in a red liquid. Other details of the work will be left for the viewer.

In order to understand gravity mathematicians had to do a mulligan on Euclid’s 5th axiom (most notably Riemann’s revolutionary work). The apple points to Newton.