TORNADO, 2011-2014

With the installation The Limitations of Logic and the Absence of Absolute Certainty, McClymont produced a series of drawings on paper that track the movement and path of the tornado. The drawings are influenced by hurricane tracking charts that use grids to map storm paths. The coloured drawings are made using the colours of the Beaufort Wind Force Scale reproduced in Indian ink. This scale is used to measure wind speed from 0 (blue, calm) to 12 (red, hurricane force), thus tying the drawings into the language of weather charts and experimentation.

Each drawing starts as a grid of ink drops, placed beneath the installation. The fans are turned on for a set period of time in order to trace the path of the tornado. As the tornado is completely unenclosed, it gets buffeted by the random, chaotic forces of turbulence within the room. These make the vortex snake around the floor, giving the tornado its own anthropomorphic character. The series of drawings capture that character, each telling a unique narrative of the tornado’s progress across the paper, capturing the movement over time.

Alistair McClymont (UK)
°1978

Alistair McClymont is an artist and designer, living and working in London. His work is a continuing process of discovery and experimentation, ranging across a variety of materials and practices. Recent work is underlined by a search for what it is to be human. Each piece takes a small subject area and breaks it down into something understandable and perhaps beautiful.

Alistair McClymont graduated from the Royal College of Art with an MA in sculpture, in 2005.