This exhibit is open 6:00-9:00 pm, March 22-29.
Fecundity
Bob Vanderbob
Fecundity: 1. the ability to cause or assist healthy growth; 2. the ability to produce offspring; 3. the creative power of the mind or imagination
Will the fecundity of our minds come to the rescue of biological fecundity? Will we collapse and go extinct, or adapt, survive and thrive? It is a delicate balance.
On one hand, the natural systems that sustain human activity are stretched to their limit. Biodiversity is dwindling. We humans are increasingly prey to fertility problems, due to the accumulation of pollution in our bodies. On the other, our understanding of biosystems is exploding. We are decoding nature’s fundamental processes at an accelerating pace with the help of the exponential rise in computing power.
Whereas our ancestors conjured up potent fertility deities associated with pregnancy, birth, life, rainfall, harvest, love, sex and beauty, the dry and abstract vocabulary we use today in relation to fecundity is not exactly rousing: 'the environment', 'sustainability', 'biodiversity'...
With this installation, Bobvan proposes a mythological, poetic experience, a revitalization of the age-old archetype encompassing the nested metaphorical meanings of the notion of fecundity to include the agility of the mind and the potential of the imagination.
The installation is inspired by a Neolithic fecundity figure found in Harappa, in the Indus Valley.
A 3D-printed female figure in unsmoothed low-poly, a metaphor for the human species as an ongoing work in progress, is balanced on her head. She becomes a screen onto which are projected images of life, energy, water, bacteria, sperm and ovules, electronic patterns, genetic and binary code. The modern-day 'power' icon is projected onto her skull, reminiscent of Neolithic representations of the vulva, a universal fecundity symbol. In stark contrast, images of desert landscapes in video negative and of Venus, Earth's barren sister planet, are projected onto the back wall. The whole installation is enshrined in a large mirror box, evoking the ongoingness of the universe-as-process by reflecting the fecundity figure ad infinitum in all directions.
Fecundity is part of Bobvan's Artificial Mythology project; it is presented at Balance-Unbalance as a world premiere.
ArtLAB Mobile ECO-STUDIO
Mobile Eco Studio is a social art project involving artist-led workshops, planting indigenous species in unused bits of land. It integrates indigenous culture, biology, and community engagement, and adds a unique approach to the related subjects of climate and culture. Its special relationship to the climate and culture of Arizona will help visitors at the conference become more familiar with this unique place and ecosystem.
