Ling Zhu
Art and Nature
06/07/2010 16:57
“In the same degree as the human being increases his dominance over nature, he becomes poorer, instead of richer.”
(“In dem Maße, in dem der Mensch die Natur zunehmend beherrscht, wird er nicht reicher, sondern ärmer.”)
– Robert Kudielka
The greatest problem of modern man as I see is the loss of connection to nature – that dynamic source of life that used to surprise him and inspire him. In modern cities he is surrounded by things he created all by himself for the purpose of maximal functionality and convenience. This means he is no longer sensually and mentally challenged by anything unexpected.
If we observe nature we would see that its major characteristics is “irregularity”. Nature has an insuppressible resilience to defy predictions. The continuous change of moving cloud formations, rock surfaces with varied relief patterns, the strivings of flora and fauna that take on a different look everyday…All these natural phenomena imbue us with a sensual richness no man-made cities with their geometrical design and flat surfaces can replace.
Perhaps art is the last shelter for nature in industrialized societies (being the last “handi-craft” though also this definition is being challenged by the incorporation of such impersonal procedures as digital techniques). In yielding himself to the movement of his hands the artist re-ascertains his nature as a living being. And as living beings all do he undergoes this tightrope walk between spontaneity and control, between accident and necessity. Art making is the human simulation of the natural act of growing, which always leads to unexpected results but nevertheless seems to follow an “inner law”, and thus never being capricious. Great artworks have the power to live on and out of its own strength, like a plant or an animal, and our reaction to them is the same as when confronted with any other natural creature: amazed, that they are what they are, completely by nature.
© Galerie Ling
(“In dem Maße, in dem der Mensch die Natur zunehmend beherrscht, wird er nicht reicher, sondern ärmer.”)
– Robert Kudielka
The greatest problem of modern man as I see is the loss of connection to nature – that dynamic source of life that used to surprise him and inspire him. In modern cities he is surrounded by things he created all by himself for the purpose of maximal functionality and convenience. This means he is no longer sensually and mentally challenged by anything unexpected.
If we observe nature we would see that its major characteristics is “irregularity”. Nature has an insuppressible resilience to defy predictions. The continuous change of moving cloud formations, rock surfaces with varied relief patterns, the strivings of flora and fauna that take on a different look everyday…All these natural phenomena imbue us with a sensual richness no man-made cities with their geometrical design and flat surfaces can replace.
Perhaps art is the last shelter for nature in industrialized societies (being the last “handi-craft” though also this definition is being challenged by the incorporation of such impersonal procedures as digital techniques). In yielding himself to the movement of his hands the artist re-ascertains his nature as a living being. And as living beings all do he undergoes this tightrope walk between spontaneity and control, between accident and necessity. Art making is the human simulation of the natural act of growing, which always leads to unexpected results but nevertheless seems to follow an “inner law”, and thus never being capricious. Great artworks have the power to live on and out of its own strength, like a plant or an animal, and our reaction to them is the same as when confronted with any other natural creature: amazed, that they are what they are, completely by nature.
© Galerie Ling
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