An inquiry into natural phenomena as a inspiration for interactive and passive sculpture.

I wish to use the facilities to support my investigation of (un)natural phenomena’s.

The first work is Passive Solar Anomalies and uses as source material observed snow phenomena. In the snow were two holes in the snow and at the bottom of one was a yellow leaf. I wish to find out whether non-white objects placed on the snow could make similar holes and use this property to make ephemeral artworks. This work references environmental concerns, loss of ice cover, and feedback loops inherent in these processes.

The second work comes from an observation of Fiddler crabs in a mangrove. Semaphoring Fiddler Crabs will use the physical computing device Arduino to drive a social robotics piece in which abstractions of the crab’s claws are seen to communicate across the room. I use for inspiration the natural and the mimetic (Ken Rinaldo pieces 'the flock' and 'autopsies'. I wish to make a work from a position that crabs are social like prairie dogs, with one on the lookout for large birds and they communicate it with their enlarged claws with the work using light as a communication device. People entering an area will set the robot arms chattering.

Utilising the metal workshop and digital media suite will enable me to achieve work that I could not realize otherwise. This physical object making complements and enhances my new media practice in video and my experiments with electronics. 

'Fish Egg Fish'