Please note this website no longer supports the web browser you use.
We recommend upgrading to the latest Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, or Safari.

JA / EN
Back

“Tele-present Water” [2011]

David BOWEN

“Tele-present Water”

Outline

A grid structure suspended from the ceiling makes wave-like movements. The movements reflect data of waves measured from buoys floating on the ocean. The installation at this venue uses data from a buoy located roughly 205 nautical miles (380 km) southwest of Honolulu, published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The distant oceanic movements are reproduced at approximately 1/12 scale.
Above the grid-like structure is a mechanism for controlling its movement. The mechanism, which the artist regards as an important component of the work as well, consists of multiple units: numerical values representing the height and frequency of the waves serve as parameters for controlling the height of the units and the delay in the movement of each unit, respectively.
The work contrasts nature and artificial objects by using a mechanical device to recreate wave movement. But the structure occasionally makes unexpected movements because some parts of it are strung together, and so its movement is closer in appearance to natural phenomena, which never repeat the same movement, than to a machine in operation. Possibly because this makes the boundary between the natural and the artificial less distinct, the work exudes a kind of naturalness despite being an artificial object.

Artists

Exhibitions

List of Works