The Totem of the Future
1987 – 1989
The Totem of the Future is a monumental, entirely metal work that evolves through an infinity of shapes it has previously “learnt”. As the temperature changes with the nights, the days and the seasons, it constantly oscillates from one to another.
The studies, research and development for this sculpture were carried out by the Raychem group (California), the world leader in this technology. Its large-scale realisation was completed at the beginning of 1989, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Three years were needed to produce the first prototypes, at various scales ranging from 1.5 to 9 metres.
The Totem of the Future received the New Horizon Award, presented by the International Society for the Art, the Science and the Technology of Berkeley.
The Totem of the Future between 5°C and 35°C, 1989, steel and shape-memory alloy, 9 metres high, 5 metres in diameter, Menlo Park (San Francisco Bay Area). Photographs: Jean-Marc Philippe, 1989.
The Totem of the Future, Menlo Park (San Francisco Bay Area), 1989.
Development and assembly of The Totem of the Future with the Raychem teams (Menlo Park, California), and a sketch of the work.
The Totem of the Future shown at the exhibition “L'Europe des créateurs : Utopies 89”, Grand Palais, Paris, 24 November – 10 December 1989.
Writings
By Jean-Marc Philippe
- From the Infinitely Small to the Infinitely Large: Matter / Memory / Interactivity / Cosmos — in Les Transinteractifs, proceedings of the conference of 4 and 5 November 1988 (Centre culturel canadien, Paris), “Déchiffrages” series edited by Frank Popper, pp. 82-87.
- Cultural Matrix and Artistic Creation: From the Classical Practice of One's Art to Transdisciplinarity — in Michel Cazenave and Basarab Nicolescu (eds), L'Homme, la science et la nature : regards transdisciplinaires, Aix-en-Provence, Le Mail, “Science et conscience” series, 1994, pp. 232-264.
- Sculpture and New Material — in Raymond Daudel and Nicole Lemaire d'Agaggio (eds), La science et la métamorphose des arts, Paris, Presses universitaires de France, 1994, pp. 103-123.
References and links
Books, catalogues and journals
- Jacqueline Brenot, “Totem du Futur”, in L'Europe des créateurs : Utopies 89, Paris, Association des entreprises pour le Bicentenaire, 1989, pp. 16-21 (record).
- Isabelle Lécuyer-Dujardin and Dimitra Markovitsi, “Les nouveaux matériaux – Sculpture à mémoire”, Théma, vol. 5 “Sciences et techniques”, Paris, Larousse, 1994, p. 349.
- Frank Popper, L'art à l'âge électronique, Paris, Hazan, 1993, pp. 130-131.
- Lionel Salem, La Science dans l'art, Paris, Odile Jacob, 2000, chapter “La science ‘mise en art’”, pp. 25-48.
- Philippe Poncet, “Art and Shape-Memory Alloys: Jean-Marc Philippe”, Leonardo, vol. 22, no. 1, MIT Press, January 1989, pp. 117-120.
Online resources
- Leonardo Awards Program: list of award winners, Leonardo / ISAST.
- Jean-Marc Philippe, ISEA Symposium Archives.