The way things go

If, like me, you're a fan of the conservation of momentum, chemical reactions, kettles, stink, bangs, 70s board-game Mousetrap, or 70s BBC2 show The Great Egg Race, get down to Tate Modern and check out Fischli & Weiss's "The way things go' (Der Lauf Der Dinge).

This piece of video art, part of an F&W retrospective showing at the Tate until January, shows an absurdly convoluted and entertaining chain reaction of things bumping, rolling and swinging into each other, not to mention setting each other on fire, inflating, puncturing, foaming, and so on. It's not exactly science, but you can see a sort-of-science (or engineering, at least) thought process behind it that ought to appeal to anyone in the least bit geeky. It reminds me of the great domino-topples that seemed also to be on TV every week in my distant, distant youth (do they still do those?). And apparently it was ripped off by, I mean inspired, that Honda advert of a few years ago.

I didn't stay for the whole thing, which lasts 30 minutes, but what I did watch seemed to go on forever. Some of the slower parts were actually quite painful to witness. If you can't get to the Tate, don't worry. You can get a DVD (and see a trailer) here (I was sorely tempted - I envisioned showing it at Factory-style happenings in my groovy Shoxton loft, and I don't even live in a groovy Shoxton loft. Or own a DVD player.). Or you can see the first 7+ minutes on YouTube: