Rock Balancing

The Art Of Rock
Balancing

What is Rock Balancing?

When we talk of Rock Balancing or Stone Balancing we mean to put one or more rocks in a state of equilibrium where the rock’s contact point is kept very small. This sculptures appear often physically impossible while actually being only highly improbable.
It’s often mistaken with rock piling which in my opinion is not quite the same thing even such piles are also somewhat balanced, yet they usually touch each other on multiple contact points which are widely spread over the surface of the rocks.

Rock Balancing can be a play, a spectacle, a devotion, a performance or landart depending upon the interpretation by its practicioners and the audience.
Its also often seen as a active form of meditation which you can get lost in for hours. It comes with several benefits for the practitioner especially if its done for the pure joy of balanceing. That may change if it becomes a artistic job because in that moment another goal is added to this activity.
As long you keep it simple and you do it for fun only you will connect you with Nature in a very strong and unique way. Further more it encourages confidence, creativity and the knowledge of physical laws, it will also train you in sensitivity, patience and in letting go of things. Last but not least it is very calming and you will realise that it totally soaks you into the now, the big goal of meditation.
Now if I mentioned before that if you do it for other purpose than simple joy, I don’t mean that you wont benefit from it in that way but you bring another strong element into play which can make the whole venture very frustrating at times. The same happens if you start to compete with others, in both cases I think its actually also a chance to realise, accept and grow from this experience.
To let go of things in life is often not easy for humans because we attach our self’s to so many things, yet it can be very refreshing to overcome this fear of change which often lead to great new opportunities.
If it comes to Rock Balancing I look at it this way, if my work collapses I am challenged to do it again and so gain more experience. Of course it isn’t great from the perspective of a artist if my goal is to document this transient sculpture and it just disappears before I captured its short existence but if it happens I can’t change it and therefore the best way to deal with it is to see the opportunities in that situation rather than waste time in disappointment. Since this is a situation you will continuously experience as a rock balancer, I believe its a great lesson for other similar situations in life.
If it happens that you just balance for fun and your finished balance collapses because of a natural reason, e.g. wind, than don’t feel pity but joy because you mastered a unique alignment of elements which was so delicate that a bit wind was able to knock it over, that should be a approval of your skill and should not be taken as a failure. Frequently it’s other humans who bring a balance to its end because they can only imagine such a sculpture to be solid, it often looks impossible and to prove their judgement they will touch it. . Again I always take it as a compliment even it results in the end of the sculpture! Why? Because it again proves your skill, by the way the expression in those peoples faces is priceless.

Rock Balancing is a activity which gained much awareness in recent years, but it is actually a ancient practise which goes way back in time. At the end we wont know who balanced the first rock but I would not be surprised if it was a caveman. One of the most known artist of our time who balanced rocks is Andy Goldsworthy which inspired a whole generation with his stunning landart installations. His focus was not on rock balance, but on many different types of organic art.
Lately Rock Balancing increased its popularity also because of Michael Grab’s outstanding work went viral, it spread the web like no other artist in that field before him. This give that art form a real push and new balancers are popping up all over the globe.
I personally have seen that art form in its advanced level the first time in the late nineties at the shore of lake Zürich in Switzerland, where I had to laugh about the artist recommending me to try it my self. My replay at the time was “no way, what you are doing is crazy! I’ll never be able to do this myself!”, well I have proven myself wrong. Many people who come in sight of a rock balance sculpture consider it impossible at first.
Nowadays its me who recommend to try it and most people reply the way I did, but I am eager to convince them of at lest trying it. Its much easier than they think, most people balance a single rock under two minutes. Of course if you want to get fancy that requires much more practice, but that’s like with everything else in life! If you want to master something you need to work for it, or as Saadi a Persian poet once said “all things are difficult before they become easy”.