Can a work of art hold the secrets of the entire universe? Artist Conrad Shawcross poses this question with The Nervous System (Umbilical), 2025, a commission for the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA). This is Shawcross’s most ambitious rope-weaving machine to date, meticulously constructed in his Hackney studio—a monumental structure standing 10 meters tall and 12 meters in diameter.
This colossal kinetic sculpture was born from a conversation a decade ago with MONA’s visionary founder, David Walsh. The machine’s 40 interlocking arms weave a continuous rope in a sequence of orbits that never repeats. This motion transcends mere mechanics, serving as an analogy for our solar system. The spinning spools mimic the orbits of stars in our galaxy, while the rope drawn from the center symbolizes the Sun’s incomprehensible speed through space. The work, a fusion of speculative computation, scientific rigor, and poetic thought, represents an extraordinary achievement at the intersection of art and mechanics.
UMBILICAL invites us not only to observe a work of art but also to witness the infinite cycles of the cosmos and humanity’s endeavor to comprehend them.
Exhibition Details:
Venue: Here East, London
Dates: On view through November 2, 2025
Artist: Conrad Shawcross
