Empirical Creed

2015 / Pendulum and water pump / 180 × 122 × 30 cm

In the north transept of the St Mary Redcliffe church in Bristol, there is a chaotic pendulum, moved by water. Given the lack of any mathematical explanation for its indecipherable motion, the accompanying text, at the church, warns visitors that science will never be able to provide us with any absolute certainties upon which to base our lives. For this piece, I reproduced the pendulum, but out of context: I presented it at the first contemporary art exhibition at the Spanish National Research Council, to evaluate science’s faith in its own ability to uncover the secrets behind this physical artifact.