Dig a hole through the middle of the Earth.
When one jumps into this hole, he or she flies, for example, from Berlin to China. Naturally, with gravity, the speed of travel be- comes enormous. However, as one flies past the centre of the Earth the speed naturally decreases, with gravity working in the other direction. The speed, according to the calculations published by the Freunde des Physikalisches Instituts, Würz- burg, would be enough to allow one to fly out of the other side of the Earth by approximately 50 metres before gravity wins over speed and pulls the subject back in the original direction. Through gravity a Perpetuum Mobile (per- petual motion) would be created; one could fly endlessly from one side to the other, coming out of each hole about 50 metres, flying back, etc. Obviously, two people could jump into the hole from either end, however, there would certain- ly be the very serious danger that both people would collide exactly in the centre, and the lives, as well as the speed of both, would be ended. Therefore, the hole should have a diameter of at least 15 metres, and it is surely possible that, through international contact, an understanding could be reached about who jumps in when on which side. One would have to employ some kind of ‘hole guard’ to prevent people with sui- cidal tendencies, venturesome people, or people oriented contrary to the agreement between na- tions jumping into the hole recklessly. Then one could proceed without problems and could call out a couple of words in the centre, like ‘Hi, how are you?’, or ‘Have a nice trip!’, or ‘How’s the weather?’. Considering the enormous velocity one should weigh the conse- quences beforehand, because the communication is probably very limited. As you shoot out at the end of the hole, which for the other side is noth- ing other than the beginning of the hole, one could for example, build up a 50m high tower on which one could shake hands with the per- Shaking a German hand and Shaking a Chinese hand by Gernot Wieland Proposal for an Imagined Artwork: son flying out (and unfortunately, flying in again all too soon), or let him have a bite from a roll, or give him letters and goods of minor weight, which are strongly desired by the other side. As we know, one flies 50m high when exit- ing the hole, and that, before flying back, there comes a short inert moment of standstill, known as The Apex Point (see fig. 2) which, it so happens, fosters communication very much. It is now easy to imagine care-free flying, from en- trance-to-exit flying, out-of-pure-love-of-flying flying, and at the other end one could utter or push out a short, ‘Hu-hu’, or ‘Hello’. It would also be important to be clear about jumping head-first into the hole. Otherwise, one would come out of the hole ‘feet-first’, and then one supposes, if people, or an important delegation is waiting, the flying person could of- fer them, instead of their hand, only their foot, which would be seen in different cultures as im- polite or probably as an insult, and would be anything other than conducive to the agreement between nations because it would not only cause irritation and annoyance, but additionally could possibly lead to diplomatic notes and complica- tions. Also, one should bear in mind that if you would transfer the end (or according to the outlook, the beginning), of the hole to Aus- tralia, the Kangaroos living in the wild would see someone jumping 50 metres high in front of their eyes. Perhaps these poor animals would get a shock or become depressed if they would see someone who unmistakeably jumps higher than them. Animal psychology would become an enormous field of activity, but also, probably, would experience values that the whole animal world would get a benefit from. Australia would lead in animal psychology for decades. Now, one could, as remarked above, fly end- lessly forth and back. If one wants to step out after a journey forth and back, for the content- ment of everybody, an exit possibility should be provided. Therefore, a 50m high pedestal installed next to the hole, and a team which catches one, is required. Here, as well, it is about trusting, because if one team forgets, or has a coffee break at the wrong time, the pitiable crea- ture exiting the hole, would once again, embark in the other direction and would have to invol- untarily work overtime (assuming it would be an employee and not somebody who jumps out of pure lust). The required equipment, and here I come to the penultimate point, should be of good qual- ity. One should think as follows: one races at in- credible speed through a murky environment for about one and a half hours through a hole (if one doesn’t get lost), to come out at the other end for an extraordinarily short moment, in relation to the whole trip. Boredom, or ennui, maybe appears, and reading is, because of the murkiness, practi- cally impossible. A sleeping pause is also not rec- ommendable because one could oversleep, and if, as mentioned above, an important delegation welcomes you, one could as a sleeper equally affront them as with the feet-first. It would be inconceivable that somebody would appear in front of an important delegation feet-first and asleep. Serious and possibly fatal complications would be almost entirely unavoidable. Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Epilogue Given the nature of things, after some time the hole will be privatised. One would charge a fee for a jump, and full-time professional hole jumpers will be employed by firms to convey messages and goods. Most certainly, a competition will be advertised to replace the name ‘hole-jumper’ with a new name, a name radiating trust-worthiness and dynamism, and the anarchy of the early jump years would be forgotten (but, conversely, would be building upon that myth). Very certainly it will lead to Christo and Jeanne-Claude being commissioned to cover over the hole for a month, therefore demonstrating impressively the hole’s enormous dynamism and powers of communication through its limited cessation of operation, because who would like to rush with a considerable velocity through a (probably pink- coloured) plastic sheet? Proposal for an Imagined Artwork is a series of limited edition works published by Iain Pate.
Dig a hole through the middle of the Earth.
When one jumps into this hole, he or she flies, for example, from Berlin to China. Naturally, with gravity, the speed of travel be- comes enormous. However, as one flies past the centre of the Earth the speed naturally decreases, with gravity working in the other direction. The speed, according to the calculations published by the Freunde des Physikalisches Instituts, Würz- burg, would be enough to allow one to fly out of the other side of the Earth by approximately 50 metres before gravity wins over speed and pulls the subject back in the original direction. Through gravity a Perpetuum Mobile (per- petual motion) would be created; one could fly endlessly from one side to the other, coming out of each hole about 50 metres, flying back, etc. Obviously, two people could jump into the hole from either end, however, there would certain- ly be the very serious danger that both people would collide exactly in the centre, and the lives, as well as the speed of both, would be ended. Therefore, the hole should have a diameter of at least 15 metres, and it is surely possible that, through international contact, an understanding could be reached about who jumps in when on which side. One would have to employ some kind of ‘hole guard’ to prevent people with sui- cidal tendencies, venturesome people, or people oriented contrary to the agreement between na- tions jumping into the hole recklessly. Then one could proceed without problems and could call out a couple of words in the centre, like ‘Hi, how are you?’, or ‘Have a nice trip!’, or ‘How’s the weather?’. Considering the enormous velocity one should weigh the conse- quences beforehand, because the communication is probably very limited. As you shoot out at the end of the hole, which for the other side is noth- ing other than the beginning of the hole, one could for example, build up a 50m high tower on which one could shake hands with the per- Shaking a German hand and Shaking a Chinese hand by Gernot Wieland Proposal for an Imagined Artwork: son flying out (and unfortunately, flying in again all too soon), or let him have a bite from a roll, or give him letters and goods of minor weight, which are strongly desired by the other side. As we know, one flies 50m high when exit- ing the hole, and that, before flying back, there comes a short inert moment of standstill, known as The Apex Point (see fig. 2) which, it so happens, fosters communication very much. It is now easy to imagine care-free flying, from en- trance-to-exit flying, out-of-pure-love-of-flying flying, and at the other end one could utter or push out a short, ‘Hu-hu’, or ‘Hello’. It would also be important to be clear about jumping head-first into the hole. Otherwise, one would come out of the hole ‘feet-first’, and then one supposes, if people, or an important delegation is waiting, the flying person could of- fer them, instead of their hand, only their foot, which would be seen in different cultures as im- polite or probably as an insult, and would be anything other than conducive to the agreement between nations because it would not only cause irritation and annoyance, but additionally could possibly lead to diplomatic notes and complica- tions. Also, one should bear in mind that if you would transfer the end (or according to the outlook, the beginning), of the hole to Aus- tralia, the Kangaroos living in the wild would see someone jumping 50 metres high in front of their eyes. Perhaps these poor animals would get a shock or become depressed if they would see someone who unmistakeably jumps higher than them. Animal psychology would become an enormous field of activity, but also, probably, would experience values that the whole animal world would get a benefit from. Australia would lead in animal psychology for decades. Now, one could, as remarked above, fly end- lessly forth and back. If one wants to step out after a journey forth and back, for the content- ment of everybody, an exit possibility should be provided. Therefore, a 50m high pedestal installed next to the hole, and a team which catches one, is required. Here, as well, it is about trusting, because if one team forgets, or has a coffee break at the wrong time, the pitiable crea- ture exiting the hole, would once again, embark in the other direction and would have to invol- untarily work overtime (assuming it would be an employee and not somebody who jumps out of pure lust). The required equipment, and here I come to the penultimate point, should be of good qual- ity. One should think as follows: one races at in- credible speed through a murky environment for about one and a half hours through a hole (if one doesn’t get lost), to come out at the other end for an extraordinarily short moment, in relation to the whole trip. Boredom, or ennui, maybe appears, and reading is, because of the murkiness, practi- cally impossible. A sleeping pause is also not rec- ommendable because one could oversleep, and if, as mentioned above, an important delegation welcomes you, one could as a sleeper equally affront them as with the feet-first. It would be inconceivable that somebody would appear in front of an important delegation feet-first and asleep. Serious and possibly fatal complications would be almost entirely unavoidable. Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Epilogue Given the nature of things, after some time the hole will be privatised. One would charge a fee for a jump, and full-time professional hole jumpers will be employed by firms to convey messages and goods. Most certainly, a competition will be advertised to replace the name ‘hole-jumper’ with a new name, a name radiating trust-worthiness and dynamism, and the anarchy of the early jump years would be forgotten (but, conversely, would be building upon that myth). Very certainly it will lead to Christo and Jeanne-Claude being commissioned to cover over the hole for a month, therefore demonstrating impressively the hole’s enormous dynamism and powers of communication through its limited cessation of operation, because who would like to rush with a considerable velocity through a (probably pink- coloured) plastic sheet? Proposal for an Imagined Artwork is a series of limited edition works published by Iain Pate.