Video

Gravity Glue – Seasons (Timelapse)

 

This is my first experiment with time lapsing the evolution of a balance session… one picture for each rock placed (3-4 hours total). i like it because it captures so many of the moments, including when the wind blows certain balances over. you can get a sense of which balances were more stable than others. it made me think of seeing a family grow together…

good speakers/headphones. check
let it load in HD before playing. check.
fullscreen. check.
MUSIC: ‘Lonely Sometimes’ by xxyyxx <– check him out on soundcloud and/or bandcamp.

 

 

 

Rock Balance Demonstration (Advanced Point/Counter-balance) 2012

 

The challenge here was making this balance happen within the 5 minute video limitation of my camera… it took about 5 takes to finally get it (AFTER getting to know the rocks). *FOCUS. Relax. the coolest thing is that the camera was able to capture the creation AND natural collapse of the balance before the 5 minute limit. completing the cycle. :)) so here’s how it’s done. *notice the technique of bracing the lower rocks while placing the next. the top rock acts as a pin to stabilize the whole structure, which is why it is very helpful to use a LARGE rock on top. plus, i like the overall design balance that the large top rock adds. and i love shades of red. as soon as i found that red rock, i knew it must go on top. it was a beautiful rock. :) contemplate, try it for yourself. all about presence in the moment. SLOW down. become the balance. :)

 

 

Gravity Glue by Michael Grab

 

This is a collection of short video segments that have built up over 2011. The opening snow scene is very special in its surprise and rarity. Music is two tracks. first: Beatcasso. last: Shlohmo. ENJOY :)

 

18 Responses
  1. Thanks for your creativity and high respect for nature
    I work with rocks in Calif. It is a pure Joy. Your photograph
    are a peace of art also. Thanks for inspiring such Beauty. Keep up the good work of art. You really rock…

  2. nishan

    WOW great work of art ! It is an inspiration and a motivation to all of US Good Luck MIC

  3. Scott

    Someone has suggested that a person who did not experience the dream I described could be hard pressed to relate it to this site. They suggested that it might seem like a bizarre, out-of-place ramble.

    In the dream drinking the liquid that slowed time represented the zen-like meditative state Michael describes when he is absorbed in his art. Solving the series of puzzles represents the act of balancing the stones.

    The seemingly impossible mission of saving the treasure represents the seemingly impossible acts of balance captured in the photos and videos.

    The treasure in the dream was not something material; it was beauty in the same way that Michael’s art is not a pile of rocks, but instead a work of art.

    1. Saul Good

      Scott…I, for one, completely understand. Nice imagery.
      Michael…you are doing some amazing and wonderful stuff.
      Thanks to you both.

  4. Scott

    Michael,

    You offer me hope that some day, perhaps, I might succeed in balancing my checkbook. Maybe it only seems impossible.

    I found your link in the wee hours on the site of a good person I knew a little a long, long time ago. After exploring your site I fell back asleep. It was in this sleep I had the following dream. I trust you will recognize your work and vision in the symbols.

    A dark malevolent force was bent on destroying an unknown object of great value hidden somewhere within a large industrial complex. If it could not possess it then it would destroy it. The force had rigged a large fuel-air-mixture bomb to destroy this complex and everything within it. The bomb had a timer counting down from one hour. This digital timer was unusual in that it had nine digits to the right of the decimal point. The right-most digits were of course indecipherable blurs. The final digit measured nanoseconds, the amount of time it takes light to move one meter.

    The industrial complex held a sequence of puzzles and clues that led to the mysterious treasure. Myself and a group of friends worked feverishly to find and rescue the treasure before it was destroyed. We made progress but time had too quickly run out. With 18 seconds remaining we rushed for the exit.

    On the exit staircase there were two glasses of a spooky bubbling and foaming liquid that glowed blue deep inside. Like science fiction acid. It had to hold a clue.

    Myself and the good person (whose link I followed to your site) stopped and looked at each other. We each grabbed a glass, held our breaths and chugged the liquid.

    But – nothing happened. Nothing. No revelation. No answer. Failure.

    But the nothing was something. We noticed a nothingness. The frantic mad dash to safety was no more. The pounding of my heart was quiet. Everything was quiet. There was something, or rather some things; quiet, stillness, calm and peace that had not been there before.

    We joined hands and walked back to the timer. Six seconds remained. But the timer was frozen. No, not frozen. The nanosecond digit clicked down. Each billionth of a second felt like one minute. We now had all the time in the world.

    The air felt liquid as we walked together. When we accepted this, its hindrance instead became an embrace.

    The clues were fiendishly clever: each clever in a new and surprising way. There were riddles, puns, mythologies, references, deep symbolism and always a demand for a different perspective. After a while the precision, creativity and originality itself became a meta-clue; a shared thread making each subsequent step a bit easier.

    One by one the clues revealed their secrets to us, as though the clues themselves were living, breathing things that had developed their own trust in us and the nobility of our mission. It was as if the early clues had felt threatened by our urgency and grasped their meaning tightly. The early clues feared us. As we relaxed, the clues relaxed; grew to trust and accept us. As this happened they slowly lost their fear of us and without fear they lost their reason for keep their secrets from us.

    As the clues spoke to us they revealed that the mysterious treasure was, in fact, a kindredness of spirit between myself and the good person whose hand I held. The “treasure” was a connection that revealed itself through the process of working as one.

    I was so rested when I awoke from this dream; as though I had, in my sleep, discovered my own weightless balance point.

    The final twist to the dream is that it visited the evening of my birthday. It will stand as one of the nicest birthday presents ever.

  5. Thom Keach

    When I first saw the pictures I thought they were Photoshopped, or maybe had re-bar in them. Then I saw the videos. This is amazing work. I can see why they are spiritual to you. God must guide your hands and eyes. Thank you so much.

  6. Olga

    Потрясающие воображения работы. Удивительное чувство баланса и гармонии, даже просто от созерцания.

  7. Mark

    This is something crazy – and I mean it!!!
    It is one of those rare cases when I want to try it as well… You really impressed me, man! I give my word that I’ll try it.

  8. Deb

    I just shared this with my Advanced Placement Environmental Science students today (many of whom are also taking physics). They were blown away. Thanks for giving us a great example of the power of Nature in art and the power of the mind to focus on what it knows can be achieved!

  9. Becky Miller

    Watching your videos was such a joyful experience! Thank you for sharing your gift.

  10. Claudia

    Thank you for a wonderful time on your website viewing some of the most phenomenal sculptures I have ever seen. What an uniques artist you are and so talented. Sent the website to my grandchildren for them to view as well. Thank You again for sharing this.

  11. Bryan

    Shared this with my 8-year-old (the video posted on Robert Krulwich’s site on NPR). He thought it was cool when the big rock stayed on top. I thought the process was very peaceful and the results otherworldly, like an old science fiction magazine cover. Thanks for your work!