Mimic Nature

The two works that I decided to take a look at was "Swarm" by David Bowen and "Shiver"  by Colleen Ludwig. The concept of mimicking nature is nothing new and probably dates back to the dawn of man. Humans have always been fascinated by nature and have tried to replicate its beauty in all forms of art from painting to sculpture. Trees and animals have been found on everything from cave paintings to primitive pots and pans. In technological art the relationship is very close because the parts themselves operating the piece resemble organic appendages. The circuits and wires resemble the veins in leaves that bring nutrients back to the base of the plant.

I would have to say that both pieces that I looked at focused more on humanities goal of trying to control nature then to mimic it. In Swarm flies are given the ability to control the motion of a cylindrical robot. Where the flies land and how dense their numbers are control the direction and speed the robot will travel in. However, they are still confined to a plastic sphere and the robot is restricted to only be allowed to move within the confines of a black circle drawn upon the ground.

The piece Shiver draws from nature by creating a room with falling trails of water. The piece is indeed inspired by nature in that falling rain is something that almost everyone can relate to. The viewer is asked to change the trajectory of the streams by running their hand across the wall. This is another example of controlling nature.

In the end I believe there will always be a relationship between technology and nature in that nature is one of the first things that we experience when we are brought in the world. We are fascinated and mesmerized by its beauty and sometimes power. It is one of the easiest subjects to draw from and relate to, that is why the relationship is so strong.