The A-Z of Gravity’s End – Your Ultimate Guide to Free Fall and Levitation

How did the Tibetan monks levitate heavy boulders? What is barophobia and who was Qamar Ali? How did Ann Hodges' life turn out, the only human on earth hit by a meteorite?

This book is more than simply a guide or glossary, it responds to the colossal themes of levitation and free fall through an artistic lens. It contains scientific, artistic and mystical examples, reflections and fictional stories by different authors on the phenomena and history of gravity, weightlessness, levitation and their antithesis: the art of falling. It is a collage, a summary of the artists own experiments and investigations, that will take the reader on a journey that straddles the fictional and the real. The book contains stories in which for example humans, frogs and objects are capable of floating freely through space, be it through magic, cheap tricks, advanced technology or other, more imaginative methods.

Bjørn Hegardt and Theo Ågren have had an ongoing artistic partnership for more than twenty years, with a common interest in exploring various natural and mythical phenomena. They explore space and the limits of space, often shown through frozen moments in everyday surroundings and things that seem to have a life of their own. A recurring theme has been defying the force of gravity with the help of various tricks, resulting in objects and site-specific installations. Over the last years, they have pursued an artistic research project called “A Study of Free Fall & Levitation”. Within this research, the artist duo has given form to how levitation and free fall can, or may appear to, occur. The project is also about failing – situations where everything collapses.