These Two Artists Are Living Together in a Gigantic Hamster Wheel

Taking the challenges of co-habitation to a new level.
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If you thought sharing a small apartment was difficult, imagine being these two artists sharing a gigantic hamster wheel. Taking the challenges of co-habitation to a new level, Ward Shelley and Alex Schweder have taken up residence for 10 days on a giant 25 foot wheel furnished mostly with orange and red Ikea furniture... that matches their hip orange and red jumpsuits. Shelley is living inside at the bottom, because he's afraid of heights, and Schweder is living outside on the top, some 30 feet off the ground. The piece is called In Orbit.

As if the bizarrely oriented space wasn't challenging enough, the duo must synchronize their movements around the wheel to keep it in balance... mostly so Schweder doesn't go rolling off the top. Together they orient their day around which of the matching furnishings they want to use: beds, desks, chairs, dressers and kitchen-bathroom combos (yuck). Each is aligned so they must use them at the same time. Gotta pee? Me too.

Schweder and Shelley will be occupying In Orbit at The Boiler in Brooklyn until March 9, 2014. Check out the video of the wheel in action below, then see more pictures at Gothamist.

Written by Benjamin Starr for VisualNews.com

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