Marble Run is a marble run - shock. Built using a mixture of modular building blocks, 3D printed modification pieces and custom designed parts Marble Run will interrupt your normal gallery experience.

“I’ve spent the last year using practice as a method for research to explore ways in which I can find fun and energy in the art space and art process both for myself and the audience.”

Marble Run is a result of this research, defined as an attraction as well as an artwork, the distributed setup around the gallery space disrupts the usual journey visitors often take through an exhibition.

Using networked microcontrollers Marble Run alludes to an adventurous marble traveling through the space in an impossible way. Although built out of toys there is little active play possible for the audience, this intentional restriction is a decision made to free them of potentially complex interactions that can result in distraction or reluctance to engage with a work. Also, selfishly, it means Eleanor got to do all the playing during the design process.

Eleanor Edwards is an artist whose current practice explores the relationship between the audience and the art object. Eleanor’s interest in computation evolved during 2016 when she began to expand her largely digital based visual art and design practice with computational mediums. Her recent work has focused on a personal reaction to her initial exposure to the art world and she has investigated methods to counter these artistic experiences. These have included: migrating the audience from passive to active members through the addition of computation, emphasising the symbiotic relationship between artist, art object and audience, working with the concept of ‘The Art of Failure’ and developing artist tools that embrace the imperfections within artworks and the process of artistic creation. It is core to Eleanor’s practice to promote a more inclusive art world, hopefully beyond the setting of the traditional art gallery, as she continues her long-term goal to redefine what it means to be a maze designer. Eleanor has been studying part-time whilst working at The Mill (London).