Title:
A-trees
Artist:
Natalie
Jeremijenko
Year:
1999
Description
of the work:
The
digital art, A-trees, which can be seen as artificial life, is a part
of OneTrees project by the artist. The project was to make a deeper
understanding on genetic determinism and environmental influence. The
work A-trees is doing more on discussing the environmental impact on
human life. A-trees is an artificial tree that is grown on one's
computer desktop. Its growth is controlled by L-system which consists
of algorithm for self-replicating that can simulate ''real'' life.
What's special is that the growth of the synthetic tree is determined
by the concentration of carbon dioxide outside.
The computer would be connected to a carbon dioxide sensor which can
be used to detect carbon dioxide levels in the surroundings. When the
CO2
level alter, the growth rate of the tree will also change. ''Every
upward spurt reflects the actual level of carbon dioxide in the air
in the micro-environment surrounding the computer......''(Tribe &
Jana, 2006, P.48) So
this work can be seen as an alternative CO2 and air quality
monitoring system.
Evaluation
on the work:
1. Raising
awareness on environmental issue
The
work is closely related to the the environmental problem that we are
now encountering. Because when we are talking about carbon dioxide,
the first thing appears in our mind will certainly be global warming.
Most of us know that high CO2 level would enhance the
greenhouse effect, and conducing to global warming. The rise of CO2
is due to excessive logging and other industrial activities. The work
reminds us the importance to conserve the natural environment and
to think more about the impact of human destruction to the
environment.
''They
call into question the fate of real trees in a world whose
environment is increasingly impacted by humans, as if to suggest that
one day the only trees left will be digital ones.''
Tribe,
M., & Jana, R. (2006). New media art(P. 48). Köln: Taschen.
Although
the growth of real trees do not directly affected by carbon dioxide,
they are impacted by human activities, such as logging and
environmental pollution. If we keep exploiting our environment, some
day there will be fewer and fewer trees and eventually only the
digital tree can survive in such an extreme environment.
2. Arousing
thoughts about life's meaning
The
work is a kind of artificial life. But can it be called life? People
may have different interpretations or definitions towards life. Some
may think that the artificial tree does not belong to life because it
is just a set of data and there is no actual material of a tree in
the real world. But some may say the tree is a kind of life because
it does respond to the environment and grow based on the change of
environmental conditions. The dispute would encourage people to think
more on the meaning and nature of life.
3. Relationship
between virtual and actual environment
Due
to the advancement of technology, the virtual(digital) world becomes
more important and influential on human life. So it is interesting to
look at how we can utilize it and relate it to the actual world.
''Rather
than building a virtual world to represent complexity, this project
punctures between the virtual and the actual environment.''
(OneTrees:
artificial trees. New York University.)
http://www.nyu.edu/projects/xdesign/onetrees/atrees/index.html
From
the work, we can see that the digital world and reality can be
closely linked to each other. The work advocates a new possibility to
look at the relationship between the virtual and actual environment
and how the linking between the two worlds can bring us benefits.
4. Concept
rather than art object itself
The
artificial tree is beautiful and
lovely but the more important things behind are the ideas or messages
that the artist intends to convey. For example, the idea of
environmental protection and the impact of exploitation of natural
environment by human beings, and also provoking new thoughts about
life and the relation of virtual and real environment. The inner
ideas of the artwork are the true value of it and these are what make
the tree programme to be an art.
References:
OneTrees:
artificial trees. New York University.
Hui tone chan , toby :
ReplyDeleteYour presentation is well-organized and related. i agree with you as some of the art work are not only focus on the appearance. It should be meaningful and well-thought for its ideas by the artists. I think it is a great work as it was related to the environmental issues and bring some messages to the viewer and try to awake their awareness of the nature.