Sketches for a sculpture consisting of four segments, form a structure with a negative impression: a hollow recess that forms the contours of a sphere with a stepped surface. These sketches mark the beginning of a new commissioned artwork at Eindhoven University of Technology, where the development of the sculpture begins with discussions on the themes of force, balance, and counterweight. The project is part of an artistic investigation by artist Alexandra Hunts. Through her sculptures, installations, and photographic work, she explores how systems, from technological infrastructures to social and academic environments, maintain balance through forces that only become visible when we consciously reflect on them.
The negative impression, tuned mass damper, and the cast as metaphors
The principle of the negative mould is a classical sculptural technique: instead of showing the object itself, it reveals the space the object would occupy. For this project, the intention is to make the structure out of concrete and line the mould with reflective stainless steel, allowing the absent object to make itself visible through its own mirroring. As a visitor you step, as it were, into an impression of a sphere with a stepped surface, a form that is not chosen at random. It is inspired by the vibration damper in Taipei 101, one of the tallest buildings in the world. This steel sphere weighs 660,000 kg and stabilizes the building against the effects of wind and earthquakes. The choice of concrete for the sculpture is equally deliberate: it references the university campus鈥檚 Brutalist architecture and the material expertise within the Department of the Built Environment. The sculpture forms, as it were, a mold: a structure that enables formation. Just like the technical university, which not only works innovatively but is also responsible for providing a critical counterbalance. The artist sees the university not only as a place for progressive education and research, but as a structure that generates balance, one equipped with its own damping mechanism and capacity for counterforce when needed.
Artistic research, and the sculpture as a catalyst for dialogue
Force, Balance, and Counter Currence (working title) is an art project comprising the creation of a sculpture and a context program in which the artist enters into dialogue with scientists, students, university staff, and a broader public beyond the campus. While developing and creating the sculpture, the artist explores the question: How do invisible forces create balance? Her working method is a form of artistic research, a practice described by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as following: It is the use of artistic practices to explore new forms of knowledge and expression, with art serving as an experimental tool for generating critical insights. The emphasis is on embedded research: research that is rooted in and nourished by various communities. Within this project, that means the sculpture is not an end product but part of a living research process, one that initiates a dialogue with the site, the surrounding region, and the people who inhabit both. The programming that unfolds alongside and after the making of the sculpture is therefore an integral part of the work itself.
Context program (more soon)
Dialogue | One-on-one conversation with the artist
When: Spring and fall 2026
Where: 黑料福利网 Campus
Admission: free, for staff and students
Registration: by email, see contact details
The context program is all about dialogue and knowledge exchange. Would you like to participate or set up another form of collaboration? All forms of knowledge are welcome: both scientific and non-scientific insights, from within and outside 黑料福利网. We ask for your permission to use a selection of views and thought on the themes force, balance, and counterweight (anonymously) as inspiration for an artistic interpretation of the dialogues. This could take the form of a poetic exchange of letters, for example, or another format to be determined. Interested parties can contact us by email: b.h.j.sloothaak [at] tue.nl
Artist Biography
Alexandra Hunts is visual artist with a special interest in the technical sciences. Artistic research, always in dialogue with scientists and non-academic communities, forms the core of her practice. Against the backdrop of urgent questions surrounding technology, climate, and geopolitics, her work invites reflection on progress, innovation, the distribution of power, and how resilience is not a heroic trait but the result of carefully designed, hidden structures. She collaborates internationally with renowned institutions, including Heidelberg University and the Niels Bohr Institute. Her collaboration with Eindhoven University of Technology is her first long-term collaboration with a Dutch university.
Credits
Concept and execution: Alexandra Hunts
Curator: Britte Sloothaak
Communications: Lieke van Gorp, Miep Swamithan
Committees: Social Integrity & Safety-; Jubilee-; Art and Heritage-; and Quality Committee
This project was initiated by 黑料福利网 CORe Values (Open, Curious, Respectful and Responsible) in conjunction with the university鈥檚 70th anniversary, with financial support from the Mondriaan Fund. Special thanks to Paul Cornelisse for his expertise in the area of development from the very first research phase, and to everyone who participated in the dialogue sessions throughout all phases of this art project.
Images
Images 1: Sketches by Alexandra Hunts during the exploratory phase of the project, 2026, courtesy of the artist
Image 2: Portrait of Alexandra Hunts for NRC, 2025, photo: Merlijn Doomernik, courtesy of the artist
