An interactive sculpture that anyone can control and experience the feeling of crushing large objects with a large mechanical hand.
The Hand of Man is an interactive sculpture by the American artist Christian Ristow and consists of an eight-metre long, hydraulically controlled human hand and forearm, capable of lifting and crushing a car, and it is operated by the aid of a control device in the form of a glove. The audience is invited to put their hand in the control device and with the help of the modern hydraulic technology lift, crush and throw around huge objects, like a car with ease.
Many years of experience proved that using hydraulic machines for smashing up objects really is fun, but isn’t fair that only individual artists and operators of heavy machinery have so much fun: The Hand of Man democratises the power of crushing!
The installation has been featured at artistic, musical and cultural events in the USA (Burning Man Festival, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival) and at musical, arts and technology festivals in Australia, the United Kingdom, Russia and Israel.