Artist33: Tom Shannon

Tom Shannon works with the basics. He relies on the simplest natural forces - gravity, momentum, magnetism - to make his work. Yes, all artists (and all things, for that matter) exist with and react these forces constantly in some way or another, as these forces are vital to the composition of the universe, but Shannon makes the forces themselves the entire focus of his work. The pieces produced are just the record of these very basic, but very important, processes and reactions. To the left is a really cool TED interview with him, as he explains the types of work he does as well as how and why.


His magnetic pieces were especially interesting to me. The metal pieces float midair, making very visible exhibitions of the forces around us. His massive lens piece weighs over a ton and relies on magnetism to balance while still being sensitive enough to other forces to react to wind. The TEDTalk below focuses on his current, past, and future work with magnets:

It's also worth noting (and was discussed in the first video) that Shannon has Parkinson's disease. This makes him a very clear and visible version of a concept artist, relying on ideas and basic processes to drive his work, rather than physical dexterity. His disease has destroyed most of the fine motor skills needed to create a concise, controlled painting, but he is still able to produce striking and cohesive visual pieces through mental dexterity.