Balansorganet (The vestibular system) is a new public work of art at Skärlagsskolan in Trosa developed by Art Lab Gnesta together with students at the school. The work consists of 39 parts of oak colored with linseed oil glaze in different turquoise shades. 9 meters long and 4 meters wide, it extends just over half a meter above the ground, in the same shape as the balance organ we all have in our ear.
The artwork has been produced after a workshop with students at the school as they balanced on overturned trees in an adjacent forest grove. It triggered a conversation about the relationship between the schoolyard and the surrounding nature, and about the imbalance between man and nature. In a time fraught with global shifts and climate crises, it is a difficult balancing act we must go through to restore a state of equilibrium in our ecosystem.
The artwork includes a set of specially made slacklines (balance lines) that are connected to tree trunks around the sculpture and that the school can use in its teaching. The artwork is activated by professional balance experts and line dancers meeting all the school’s children and introducing them to the balance organ – both what we have in our ear and the new artwork.
