David Bowen: Growth Rendering Device
Artist(s):
Title:
- Growth Rendering Device
Exhibition:
Creation Year:
- 2007
Medium:
- kinetic installation
Category:
Artist Statement:
Growth Rendering Device is a kinetic installation that captures the growth of a pea plant over a 24-hour period. Suspended in a nutrient-rich hydroponic solution, the pea plant growth is record-ed during the length of the exhibition. Attached to a wall, the plant is connected to a vertical scanner, an ink-jet printer, and a growth light. This system provides everything that is needed to sustain and record the plant’s development. The device produces a rasterized drawing every 24 hours. After each new drawing is produced, the system scrolls the roll of paper approximately four inches to make way for the next drawing cycle to begin. The outcome of this work is not predetermined. As the name suggests, the focus is on growth—a complete feedback system between machine and plant. However, it is possible that what the machine may record is also the decay and demise of the plant. Drawing marked parallels to Gregor Mendel’s work on inheritance in peas, Growth Rendering Device seems to ask whether both the mechanic and the artistic parents will leave their mark on their offspring.
