August 2025: Tehran bombing footage looping on Sydney television. News anchor kept using phrase "chain of events"—describing how one strike led to retaliation, escalation, next strike. I looked at pile of bike chains on workbench, salvaged from Sydney streets over months. The phrase echoed. “Chain of events. Cycle of violence.”
Salvaged bicycle chains welded into grenade forms. Hollow spheres constructed from counted chain segments—6 links at bottom, then 8, 10, 12 forming hemisphere, centre section of 12, reverse hemisphere mirrored. Chains engineered for circular motion, frozen into instruments measuring cyclical violence.
Turn one around, look through gaps between links—nothing there. Void at centre.
THE HOLLOW CENTRE
Carl Sagan observed that from space, our wars look absurd—struggles over fraction of pale blue dot. If that's true, why does pattern keep happening?
The hollow interior offers one answer: perhaps nihilism at core. Perhaps violence doesn't need justification to continue. The pattern repeats because that's what patterns do.
Started building these grenades as meditation on question I couldn't answer: What if this is just what we are? Not thinking about solutions. Asking whilst hands worked: What if violence isn't deviation—what if it operates as baseline we observe across human contexts? We've been in constant war. Whenever there's peace, it appears as pause to regroup and attack again with better weapons.
Each welded link became another repetition measured. From cosmic distance our wars look absurd, petty struggles over nothing. I looked for meaning at centre—through gaps between chain links, into hollow interior—and found nothing there. That absence suggests one answer: perhaps there is no why. The form persists. The chain links forward. This appears to be what we do.
Barrister friend visited. "Cycle of violence—so you pull the pin to end it?"
"Pull the pin: you die violently, perpetuating cycle. Don't pull it: someone else will. Grenade doesn't offer solution."
THE PATTERN PERSISTS
Nobel thought dynamite would make war so terrible we'd stop. Maxim believed same about machine gun. Nuclear weapons supposed to make conflict unthinkable. Each became another link. Grenade just one iteration—compact, efficient, terrible. Not terrible enough to stop us. Just terrible enough to add to arsenal.
Chains engineered for forward motion, frozen into form that goes nowhere except back to beginning. Each link quantifies one repetition. Sagan's cosmic perspective should change behaviour. Doesn't appear to.
Through counted links and hollow centres, this work documents correlation without claiming essential human nature or exclusive explanation. Positioned observation examining historical and contemporary evidence. One framework among possible alternatives.
The void functions as conceptual centre—turn grenade around, look through gaps, nothing there. That absence embodies one framework: nihilism at core, no meaning required for pattern continuation. Violence doesn't need justification. Form persists anyway.
Gold finish grenade—spray paint over rust. Salvaged single-speed chain welded into hollow sphere. 6 links bottom, 8, 10, 12 forming hemisphere. Each link quantifies one repetition. The pattern counted.
Look through gaps between chain links—nothing there. The void visible through rotation. Turn grenade around, peer into hollow centre. That absence suggests one answer: perhaps violence doesn't need meaning to continue."
Gold and silver finishes. Spray paint over rust paired with polished chrome chain. Surface treatments vary; pattern doesn't. Wars pause, weapons improve, violence resumes. Chain of events. Chain of violence
Five grenades, various finishes—gold, green, silver, black. Chains engineered for forward motion, frozen into form that goes nowhere except back to beginning. Nobel thought dynamite would make war so terrible we'd stop. Just terrible enough to add to arsenal
Materials: Salvaged bicycle chains (single-speed and derailleur), gasless MIG welding, aluminium rod, steel safety lever, R-clip pin, spring-loaded toggle
Dimensions: ~90mm diameter × 130mm height
Chain Preparation: Salvaged chains ultrasonically cleaned using jewellery cleaner, 15-minute cycles in Simple Green solution (1:10 dilution) until fluid stayed clear. Cavitation reaches pin-and-roller interfaces where brushes can't access.
Assembly Method: Chain tool pushes pins out for controlled disassembly. Counted segments positioned with Gorilla Glue dabs (4-hour cure), then gasless MIG welding throughout—tack welds at each junction. Geometry demands counting precision: 6 links bottom, then 8, 10, 12 (hemisphere), centre section 12, reverse hemisphere. Two hemispheres meet and weld at equator. Interior remains void.
Recognition Hardware: Aluminium rod welded to top, steel safety lever fabricated and bent, red-painted R-clip pin, spring-loaded toggle assembly. Tops don't unscrew—fully welded. Functional mechanism: pull pin to activate (theoretically).
Surface Finishes: Gold (spray paint over rust), silver (polished chrome), black (powder coat), green (olive drab). Finishes respond to salvaged chain conditions. Surface treatments vary; pattern doesn't.
Critical Design: Hollow core visible through rotation and gaps between links. The void functions as conceptual centre—turn grenade around, look through gaps, nothing there. That absence embodies one framework: nihilism at core, no meaning required for pattern continuation.
Status: Static sculptural series of 6, various finishes. Recognition hardware functional. Hollow centres maintain. Pattern continues repeating across observed human contexts—wars pause, weapons improve, violence resumes.
Context in Series
Seventh piece (#7 of 12), deepening Powerlessness examination. Following Proto Pistols' geographic inability, shifts from individual powerlessness to pattern recognition: violence as recurring structure rather than individual failure to prevent.
Chains engineered for forward motion frozen into grenades going nowhere except back to beginning. Hollow centres visible through rotation—perhaps nihilism at core, perhaps violence doesn't need meaning to continue.
Sets up Luisón (#8) which examines observation itself as corruption mechanism, moving from pattern recognition to epistemological powerlessness—the curse of seeing without capacity to intervene.