Gyroscope of the Sun 太陽のジャイロスコープ

Gyroscope of the Sun by Arnaldo POMODORO is a large sculpture with a diameter of 4 meters and a total weight of five tons, which consists of a two-part bronze disk surrounded by weathered steel rings. Previously installed outdoors near the museum entrance, the work on this occasion is exhibited indoors having been restored in correspondence to the museum’s renovation.
Drawing inspiration from a medieval armillary sphere, and described by the artist himself as expressing the way in which contrasting subjects such as sun and earth, earth and moon, and morning and night change their positional relationship with the passage of time, the bronze disk had formerly been equipped with a mechanism that enabled each of its parts to slowly rotate over the course of 24 hours.
Pomodoro was born in 1926 in Rome, Italy, and after completing his studies in architecture and stage design, commenced his full-fledged practice as a sculptor. Ever since he has continued to combine traditional blacksmithing methods with techniques of modern sculpture to produce various works using bronze as his main material. Gaining high acclaim for his boldly dynamic and distinct style, he has received numerous awards and honors in international exhibitions. While the myriad of geometric forms as well as the rifts engraved upon the disk like deep vales serve to further emphasize the three-dimensionality and multifaceted nature of the work, the changes in light within the exhibition space instills it with a different impression every time it is viewed.