Radioactive amusement park

An abandoned amusement park in the town of Pripyat, whose residents were evacuated immediately after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster. Inside the bumber car the radioactivity rate is around 10 times as much as in the open air in the city.

The World Turned Upside Down

Sensing what is up and down should be really straightforward. After all, it's such a vital thing to know. It guides how we walk, sit, stand, and tells us what things will fall over and where. But when you enter the old tilted shack on the side of a hill in Santa Cruz, California, your view of the world changes. Balls seem to roll uphill, a pendulum hangs off to one side, and people look like they're standing at impossible angles as if suspended by ropes.
...

Newscientist From issue 2169 of New Scientist magazine, 16 January 1999, page 37

Disney's influence on contemporary design

total synchronism
anachronism
simultaneity of emotions, of work and leisure
lapse/collapse of time
supremacy of space over time
multisensory immersion, escapism, suspension of disbelief [boundary ritual, sophistication of ritual]
superficiality
spectacularization, experience orchestration, theater of guts
hyperreality
escapism
semiotic dress up [from persuasion to neurolinguitic approach and to autosuggestion, close to placebo design]
risk and hazard as amusement

[needs complement]

Related bibliography:
Neo-Baroque Aesthetics and Contemporary Entertainment, by Angela Ndalianis. Cambridge, MA, and London: MIT Press, 2004,

Mother of all Centrifuges!

This 18 meter centrifuge is the world's largest. The centrifuge weighs over 30000 tons, and the maximum load is 30 G, but most tests are run at 3 or 4 G.
A centrifuge ride is the first test for a cosmonaut, whose entire training school takes from five to eight years. The centrifuge can simulate the extreme force of gravity that cosmonauts (and astronauts) face when going into space. A centrifuge training session lasts about 30 minutes, and the trainee experiences both the centrifugal force as well as the spin of the pod he/she is riding in. Just typing this makes me a little queasy!

Gravity and Resistence

The key concept of "gravicells" Gravity and resistance:
The spatial expression of "gravicell- gravity and resistance" is rendered consistently by the real time calculation of the dynamics. The on-going dynamic movements are composed of the counter powers around gravity. Gravity is not materialized without the reaction force.

Our sense of direction in a space, up and down or right and left, indicates the fact that we have physical functions in the gravity-based environment, and without it, our concept of space would not be formed. Thus we live in the world where gravity is inevitable, and everything that exists on the earth represents a form controlled by the dynamics of gravity, not to mention a space, language, physique, shape of stomach or architecture.

In this artwork, it is possible for us to develop a new human sense through feeling gravity differently than usual and having new perception of body. The work provides a space with hypothetical dynamics having the opposing forces of gravity and resistance, through special devices and sensors. Walking freely in the site, visitors are able to feel gravity that they are seldom aware of, resistance to it, and the effects caused by other participants. All movements and changes made by participating visitors are transformed into the movements of sound, light (LED) and geometrical images through the sensors, so that the whole space develops or changes in this interactive installation. Additionally, the position of the exhibition space is simultaneously measured by GPS, and with plural linked GPS satellites as part of the work, it involves some observation points outside the earth. It means that the area of our perception has expanded, and presents a fact that this installation site is moving relative to gravity as well. This artwork provides people with an opportunity to feel the possibility of dissolution of gravity, which suggests multiple meanings.

http://www.g--r.com/

Space Cycle

Space Cycle is an artificial gravity exercise gym that enables the rider to perform resistance-training exercises without the use of weights. To achieve the desired amount of force, the rider on the left powers the cycle while the rider on the right performs squats.
Suggested Caption:
The human-powered centrifuge generates various levels of artificial gravity ranging from 1g (Earth gravity) to 5g (five times Earth gravity), where the speed of rotation determines the level of gravitational force. Here, the rider is experiencing approximately 3 times the force of Earth's gravity.

Passive Dress

First presented at the frank elbaz gallery in 2005, Passive Dress by Antal Lakner looks like a spacesuit. And true enough, the suit comprises ergonomic weights that increase normal earth gravity by 150 to 200%. So wearing the Passive Dress is a considerable physical effort.

Says Antal Lakner, "the movements of a person wearing the suit become slower and more meditative." You have to focus on their body position and the basic movements. The envelope or shell hampers these basic movements. But it is also an opportunity to form new links with space, and new ways of occuying it.