Autumn Breeze
A Choreographed Dance
The delicate branches of a Ficus Ginseng subtly shiver and wave in response to a passing breeze. In this performative artefact, bespoke electronics and a silent fan control the movement using data taken from the wind. The tree is growing from within a Kokedama: a moist ball of soil covered with moss which has its origins in Japan and the bonsai and kusamono planting styles. It provides a supporting focal point, without a pot or ground roots.
Installed on a precision-cut platform of reclaimed paper, Autumn Breeze sees nature augmented by technology in a choreographed dance resembling the flow and harmony of the natural world. It takes influence from the kinetic sculpture Wa, an indoor garden created during Metcalfe’s Playable City Tokyo residency (2018), named after ‘wa’ an idea core to practicing Shinto where we live live harmouniously, in peace and balance with each other, but also with nature”. In our encounter with the earlier work Wa and in Autumn Breeze, we are encouraged to consider how we value, perceive and define nature, and what we might learn from different cultures to our own.
Date:
2022
Materials:
Ficus Ginseng Kokedama
Fan
Bespoke Electronics/Software
Size:
350mm x 400mm x 150mm
Edition Details
Edition of 8 plus 4 AP
Role
Concept, Creative and Realisation
Part of the Spring Summer Collection ‘23
Through internet-connected slow technologies, living and fossilised plants and mixed media, this new series of performative artefacts occupy our interior spaces and take our minds elsewhere.
A delicate fern performs a choreographed dance, a live-streamed woodland in Galloway reaches us through mesmeric pixels, a gilt frame is filled with deep dark yet shimmering tiny particles of crude oil. Precision-engineered materials and data-driven movements meet the flow and unpredictability of living matter. In this overlap of technology and nature we might find new connections in the familiar. Each work gently steers us away from a nature-culture dichotomy—the idea that nature is somehow external to humans—and presents new ways for us to be in dialogue with nature in our everyday lives.
From Japan to Scotland, inspiration comes from the diverse relationships people have with nature and how these are mediated by history and culture. In Japan,
Shirin-yoku (forest bathing) teaches us the benefits of ecotherapy, while many plants and trees are steeped in the myths and legends of British folklore and interwoven in rituals. The works also explore how we live according to, and often seek comfort from, our regional climates—the changes from day-to-day, day-to-night, and the seasons. In the works’ natural elements, such as the single hawthorn tree and the common yarrow, we find a celebration of such cycles: the rise and fall of pollen levels, the intensity of a breeze, the cacophony of a dawn chorus, and a reminder of how we, in turn, are affected and influenced by these changes.
To design for both planet and people is a common thread running through these experimental works of functional art. They incorporate ideas from within Biophilic Design and how this can reduce stress, improve wellbeing and clarity of thought. In each unique encounter with these calming works, we find new intimacies with nature within our modern built environment.