Ever since the beginning of times, man has been responding to the environment he lives in in various aspects of his life. In addition to essential vital activity related to nourishment and habitations, man’s adaptation and use of environment has gone beyond mere survival. Meticulous observation of natural phenomena and verities brought men to become accomplished astronomers and mathematicians. Skills that led early builders to excel in using these phenomena to the extent of aligning edifices with stellar systems creating a bond between earthly and heavenly bodies in an attempt to reflect and emphasize universal unity.
Today too, artists continue to explore human connection to the environment through contemporary creativity. New York based Japanese artist Nobuho Nagasawa has created a wave of light the that she calls “ water weaving light cycle”. It is woven out of fiber-optic cables that the artist has toiled to weave herself after studying looming techniques and building a special loom to proportionally accommodate the thickness and nature of the fiber-optic cables used instead of thread.
The woven sheet hangs sinuously above the staircase of City Hall in Seattle. The wave emits blue light pulses which intensity fluctuates according to weather conditions in the Seattle area. Weather news are fed to an especially modified regulator that transforms weather input to a programmed set of instructions resulting in the change of lighting of the fiber optic cables. Sound extracts from nature of the Seattle area form an integral part of the artwork. They are introduced to boost the effect of the wave and complete the desired feeling relating the visitor to nature.
This site specific artwork was especially designed with the aim to reconnect people with their environment. Ironically, we spend more time inside acclimatized buildings that isolate us from natural and environmental elements that we ourselves are part of.
This is one simple trial to awaken us to relate more the natural world that we have done a lot to unduly distance ourselves from.
References
http://artbeat.seattle.gov/2013/11/25/weekly-art-hit-nobuho-nagasawas-water-weaving-light-cycle/
*Gamal Hosni :Personal interview with artist Nobuho Nagasawa in New York,2006.
This article was first published in print in SCIplanet, Summer 2014 issue.
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Image by Nobuho Nagasawa, Water Weaving Light Cycle, 2005, woven optical fiber, stainless steel cable wire, illuminators, sound, located at Seattle City Hall, Photo by Nobuho Nagasawa. http://cosartbeat.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Nagasawa-FFD05.021.04.jpg