rolling stone

One Word Sunday: Roll/Role hosted by Debbie at TravelWithIntent got me thinking about things that roll. And the role they play in our lives.

The Swiss Granite Fountain in the Singapore Botanic Gardens, sculptured by Ueli Fausch (2005), is a gift from the Swiss Community in Singapore. Both the ball (measuring 80 cm in diameter, weighing 700 kg) and the 3-tonne basal block on which it sits, are both made from granite from Switzerland.

The ball is constantly spinning, rolling, kept afloat by water pressure directed through the basal block. The role of the ball in perpetual motion is to represent people striving for excellence.

When the girls were toddlers, we would bring them to this sculpture. They would climb up the base and try to stop the ball with their tiny little hands. If you apply sufficient force in the appropriate places, you can change the direction of the spin.

Through the years, we would smile indulgently when we walked/ran past, to see little (and not so little) people trying to do the same. During lockdown, the water was turned off and the spinning ceased. It has since been turned on but the sculpture is little visited these days.