David Bowen: tele-present wind
Artist(s):
Title:
- tele-present wind
Exhibition:
Creation Year:
- 2011
Medium:
- x/y tilting devices, dried plant stalks, accelerometer
Category:
Artist Statement:
David Bowen’s work is concerned with aesthetics that result from interactive, reactive, and generative processes as they relate to intersections between natural and mechanical systems. tele-present wind consists of a field of x/y tilting devices connected to thin, dried plant stalks installed in the gallery, and a dried plant stalk connected to an accelerometer installed outdoors. When the wind blows, it causes the stalk outside to sway. The accelerometer detects this movement, transmitting it in real time to the grouping of devices in the gallery. The stalks in the gallery space move in unison, based on the movement of the wind outside. Bowen says of his work, “I produce devices and situations that are set in motion to create drawings, movements, compositions, sounds, and objects based on their perception of and interaction with the space and time they occupy. The devices I construct often play the roles of both observer and creator, providing limited and mechanical perspectives of dynamic situations and living objects. The work is a result of the combination of a particular event and the residue left after the event.” His work thus offers an imperfect and revealing transposition of data. “In some ways, the devices are attempting, often futilely, to simulate or mimic a natural form, system, or function. When the mechanisms fail to replicate the natural system, the result is a completely unique outcome. It is these unpredictable occurrences that I find most fascinating. These outcomes are a collaboration between the natural form or function, the mechanism, and myself. This combination can be seen as an elaborate and even absurd method of capturing qualified data. I see the data collected in this manner as aesthetic data.”
