Cycles N2

回顧 2025 年，西班牙藝術家 SpY 曾在馬德里展出動態雕塑《Cycles》。作品由九個半徑相異且水平疊放的圓環組成，並透過底座隱藏的機械系統，帶動各圓環圍繞垂直軸心交錯旋轉，具象化了時間與流動的本質。今年，SpY 便以此雕塑為原型，延伸出全新的動態裝置《Cycles N2》。在 NUR 國際媒體藝術節的官方委託下，他於俄羅斯喀山的巨型工業遺址中，懸掛十五個圓環。運用機械與程式控制，每個圓環化為獨立單元，配合聲音和光影，以不同節奏與速度各自上升、下降。在不斷變化的幾何陣列中，它們協同運作，彷如會呼吸的有機體，共同獻上永不重複的編舞。

In 2025, Spanish artist SpY presented the kinetic sculpture CYCLES in Madrid, Spain. Composed of nine horizontal rings of varying radii stacked one above another, the work is driven by a mechanism concealed within its base. As the rings rotate about their respective axes, their changing alignments give visible form to time and flow. In 2026, SpY developed the idea further in CYCLES N2, a suspended kinetic installation commissioned by NUR Festival and presented at the Air Park, part of URAM Extreme Park in Kazan, Russia. Fifteen rings move vertically through the space, each functioning as an autonomous unit within a choreographed system of movement, light and sound. Rising and descending at different rhythms, they form a shifting geometric array. Moving in concert, the rings take on the cadence of a breathing organism, while their collective form continually changes.

在深入探討 SpY 為何將圓環從固定軸心的水平面旋轉，轉為垂直面的升降前，不妨先理解他的動態美學。其實，這位西班牙藝術家持續透過創作，探索空間、時間、運動和感知之間的交互關係；他也將藝術視為人與公共空間的互動媒介，繼而主動勾起人們的注意力，重新思考自身與周圍空間的關係。仔細觀察，過去的《Cycles》是依賴底座隱藏的機械傳動系統運作，其運動軌跡是規律、循環且可預測的；《Cycles N2》卻嘗試將每個圓環的控制權交給數位程式與伺服馬達，從而創造出集體且永不重複的隨機感。從這層時間觀上，就演繹出裝置如何透過數位科技突破人們對時間循環性的既有認知，展示出充滿未知與可能性的生成過程。

To understand SpY’s shift from rotation about fixed axes to vertical movement, it is useful first to consider the kinetic language that underpins his practice. The Spanish artist has long explored the interplay of space, time, movement and perception. He also treats art as a medium through which people engage with public space, drawing attention to the environments they inhabit and prompting them to reconsider their relationship with their surroundings. In CYCLES, the concealed base mechanism produces motion that reads as regular, cyclical and predictable. CYCLES N2, by contrast, shifts control to the individual rings, creating the impression of a collective sequence that is more variable and less readily anticipated. Time no longer appears as a closed cycle; it unfolds instead as a more open process, marked by uncertainty and possibility.

《Cycles N2》突破了傳統裝置藝術與建築的藩籬，轉而將巨大的工業遺址空間視為雕塑的一部分。當十五個圓環在垂直向度上重疊交錯、不斷重複升降時，便持續改變場域的景深與觀者的視角。這件作品不再是空間內單純的擺件，它本身就是一個與觀者身體產生共鳴的動態載體。當巨大的圓環伴隨著低頻音效與流動光影，直接在觀者的頭頂上方緩慢降落、逼近、再抽離時，審美體驗便由視覺延伸至身體感知。觀者光是駐足於這個裝置前，感官就會被強烈放大。

By treating the volume of the venue as part of the sculpture, CYCLES N2 takes on an architectural dimension. As the fifteen rings rise, descend and overlap, they continually alter the perceived depth of the venue and the geometry seen from one position to the next. The installation becomes a moving spatial field that engages the body directly. When the monumental rings descend overhead, draw closer and then recede, a low, resonant soundscape and shifting light make the encounter physical as well as visual. Even while standing still, the viewer becomes acutely aware of scale, proximity and movement.

背景的黑暗消除了建築內所有不必要的雜訊，使身體回歸純粹的感知；而圓環自帶的 LED 燈條則在漆黑中散發著強烈紅光，將周圍由混凝土弧面組成的展場暈染成一片充滿儀式感的精神場域，隨著光影的推移徐徐呼吸。這種黑與紅的對比，模糊了觀者對真實重力、天花板高度和牆面邊界的認知。在動態編排下，紅光沿著圓環輪廓流轉，勾勒出轉瞬即逝的光影型態，不斷重塑人們對空間的體驗與感知。這件看似瞬息萬變的動態裝置，不僅擴張了空間維度，更引領人們步入無止境的感官重塑。

The surrounding darkness suppresses much of the venue’s visual noise, heightening bodily awareness. Red light traces the rings and spills across the curved ramps, lending the space an almost ceremonial atmosphere. As the light shifts, the venue seems to breathe. The contrast between black and red, together with the rings’ vertical movement, unsettles the viewer’s sense of orientation, ceiling height and spatial boundaries. Light travels around the circumference of each ring, revealing fleeting configurations that alter how the space is read. With each shift, the apparent dimensions of the venue expand and contract, changing the viewer’s sense of distance and scale.