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Didactic 2

Between this text and your body there is a sculpture. It’s suspended on the midpoint of the line that tethers your navel to the second “t” in the word “trajectory” in the middle of the third line of the third paragraph of this text. The sculpture is microscopic and extremely dense. It’s a scaled down representation of your body that’s eight micrometers tall (the diameter of a red blood cell). It’s crafted entirely of densely packed hepatitis virions and it exquisitely replicates your features. The shape of your teeth, the girth of your rib cage, the hairs on your toes; every detail and proportion is flawlessly recreated. The figure is facing your belly.

At the precise moment when you complete this text, the sculpture will explode into 7 pieces: The head, the left arm, the right arm, the left leg, the right leg, the left torso and the right torso. The spine will be split symmetrically, divided evenly between the two halves of the torso. The seven pieces will be launched outward away from each other but will travel within the shallow plane that the body currently inhabits. They will tumble laterally (clockwise) as they fly outward and the feet, palms, and face will remain oriented towards your navel. Synchronous with the initial moment of animation, the model’s eyes and mouth will fully open.

The head and limbs will travel 3 body lengths from their current positions before slowing down. The two halves of the torso will travel only 2.5 body lengths in the same amount of time so as to remain encircled by the other five pieces. As they approach the climax of their outward trajectory, all seven pieces will simultaneously yield as if restrained by invisible rubber bands. They will linger momentarily, maintaining a slowed down lateral rotation, and the model’s left eye will preform a wink. Then the parts will accelerate rapidly towards each other. As they approach their reunion, they’ll fall into a synchronized tumble so that, upon impact, each piece is correctly oriented to recreate the sculpture’s present configuration. The eyes and mouth will shut tight, and the impact will produce a barely audible thud.

Didactic 2
2013