new media artist
BIO-ART PROJECTS
THINKING SPHERICALLY
Digital image by 360-degree VR map generator
Today using precise instruments, scientists have determined that trees have consciousness, are capable of transmitting information to other plants, birds, and insects, and even form neural networks for communication.
It is interesting to note that the Bible compares man to a field tree (Deuteronomy 20:19). However, trees, unlike humans, do not have a brain – a special organ responsible for consciousness.
An organ like this is the tree itself, from roots to crown. It seems that the trees have a 360° coverage of space as a result of this spherical vision.
As a new media artist, I am interested in translating this feeling into the language of art, using a VR mapping generator to cover a 360 degree space.
For this purpose, I chose my favorite olive tree, which grows near my house. This tree is unusual. It was rescued from death and transplanted in a new location, which lies near the spot where it used to grow in the territory of a small town near Jerusalem. The tree has now become the town's symbol. It is 2000 years old, and it certainly "remembers" ancient times. We can use its biological memory as a kind of "database" of our planet.
With 360-degree mapping VR technology, I can “turn on” spherical vision and create a cosmogonic feeling of the Creation of the world, which this tree evokes. After all, we live in a three-dimensional spherical universe.
In my art, I aim to create dialogue between natural objects and new technological reality, which becomes a real co-author of my art works.
The Catalog of ArtPlatformOn Exhibitions and Conference, S. Korea, 2022
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MY FRIEND OLIVE TREE APP
For the chatting partner, I have selected an olive tree growing near my home. As it was said, this tree was rescued from death and transplanted in a new location, not far from the spot where it used to grow, in the area of a small town near Jerusalem. It is 2000 years old, and it "remembers" the time when it was surrounded by ancient Hebrew speech. Later, Hebrew ceased to be a spoken language, until its revival in the same land in the late 19th century. Therefore, the speech of this ancient olive tree sounds particularly impressive after being translated into Hebrew.
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A simple webcam with a highly sensitive microphone, which has been installed on the branches of the tree, transmits the image of the leaves and the sound of their rustling to the mobile device. The resulting sound graph is then transformed by the software into a stream of digits, which is simultaneously a stream of Hebrew letters. Then, through the use of a special code, this stream is broken into individual words, which appear as a text message in the chat.
Video of the App
Near the tree is a sign that reads: “The tree was acquired through a Jewish donor. The tree grew in the Biblical village Raba in the Lower Galilee, now known as Tarbi Arava. The tree age is 2000 years. It was planted by our Biblical forefathers that lived in Raba”.
Galina Bleikh sets up a video camera among the leaves of the olive tree.
Screens of My Friend Olive Tree Application (in the order corresponding to the sequence of actions).
MANGO BONE — THE INTERNET STAR,
or Gause's Competitive Exclusion Principle
My work explores how mass public attention can be a vital resource for a living organism.
For this, I used two mangoes, picked from the same tree, having a similar size and the same degree of maturity.
Then both of their bones were placed together in the same glass of water.
Every day I removed one of the bones (named Bone No.1) from the glass, took a picture of it, posted this photo on Instagram and then returned the bone back.
A week later, Bone No.1, which participated in the photo shoot, showed signs of swelling and sprout development. It increased in size and occupied a larger volume than its neighbor No.2, which began to darken and shrink from that time.
Thus, Bone No.1 made the transition from dormancy to active life, that is, to the initial stage of ontogenesis, at which a sprout is formed. This happens with the provision of moisture and oxygen, suitable temperature and light conditions. In the process of germination, the metabolism in the embryo and endosperm increases; seeds swell in water, starch, fats and proteins break down into sugar, fatty acids and amino acids.
Since both bones were equally supplied with moisture and oxygen, it can be said that Bone No.1 had a negative effect on Bone No.2. As a result of the competition for vital resources, it turned out to be stronger and began to oppress its neighbor.
Of course, my experiment is not a scientific study, but an artist’s gesture, designed to take a different look at familiar things. I tried to raise the question, does publicity affect the energy of life?
And if so, how?
I think that today people, more than ever before, need mutual attention and support. Social networks can be seen as one of the tools to help achieve this goal.
The Catalog of ArtPlatformOn Exhibitions and Conference, S. Korea, 2022
Visual and tactile contact with the mango bone through virtual communication.
Germination phases of a mango bone No.1. INSTAGRAM
Mango Tree
Two mangoes, picked from the same tree, having a similar size and the same degree of maturity.
Two mangoes, picked from the same tree, having a similar size and the same degree of maturity.
PRESENCE OF ABSENCE
Video installation “Presence of Absence” offers expand our perception of real tree and its virtual image and get new unexpected experience of their interaction.
Video installation consists of two screens.
On one of them – a video that reproduces still image of three-dimensional model of an olive tree. Soundtrack of this video is the recording of rustling leaf of real olive tree whose age is over 2000 years.
On the second screen – a video of the real olive tree whose leaf is soundlessly trembling in wind.
Throughout this art-work, I want to reflect on the relationship between the artificial reality that fills our lives and the world of wildlife. Can artificial reality completely replace the nature in the future and how it affects our feelings?
SCREEN 1. Video of olive tree 3d model. The leaves are motionless. THE SOUND: recording of leaf noise of real olive tree from the SCREEN 2.
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SCREEN 2. Video of real olive tree. The leaves soundlessly are rusting in the wind.
PRESENCE OF ABSENCE. The Exhibition View
FORMALISMA. IN SEARCH OF SELF-IDENTIFICATION
In my work, I reflect on how the perfect creation of nature differs from the perfect creation of the human mind.
The shape of the EGG is born by nature itself. An egg is a kind of oval geometric body that has only one axis of symmetry and is called an “ovoid” (lat. ovum – egg + Greek Îιδος – similar). The shape of the egg will fascinate with its unpredictable perfection. Unlike a sphere, it can have many variations of curvature, remaining always recognizable in its absolute soft flowing beauty.
Unlike an egg, the CUBE geometry is rational. It is not characteristic of natural matter and is rather a mental invention of man. A cube – a body with six identical faces in the form of regular squares – has been known to the mathematical mind of man since ancient times. This is one of the so-called “Plato solids”. According to Aristotle, the cube expresses stability, certainty. Man built his cities from cubes. The cube symbolically sums up the essential qualities of matter. The cube is always the same and similar to itself. It can only differ in size.
There is no end to the shapes and sizes of eggs. The cube has no variety of shapes.
The egg is nature’s most perfect design.
The cube is the most perfect human design.