9-16 maja 2019 – Galeria Konstärshuset Svavel w Jönköping, Szwecja
BIONICS, 9-16 May 2019 – Gallery Konstärshuset Svavel, Jönköping, Sweden
The BIONICS exhibition, which we present to you is a cross-sectional image of the activities of both research and teaching staff, as well as their pupils – students studying at the University of Arts in the Department of Bionics and LandscapeDesign.
The roots of this department were created almost 45 years ago, when prof. Włodzimierz Dreszer developed and implemented the Bionics in Design program. In 1981, an institution was established, which then in 1992 obtained the status of the Bionics Department. Department of Bionics and Landscape Design is the current name of the unit which was established in 2014.
The implemented program has become an idea that had no precedent in the artistic world at that time. Projects created in accordance with its concept are related to the use of forms and mechanisms observed, separated from the natural world and then thoroughly analyzed. The subject matter of research are not only the things that can be observed by the naked eye or through visual aid. There are various types of processes that can be noticed, for instance, touch through skin receptors or by sense of sounds. Those are physical and biochemical processes that are subjected to the rules of the world around us.
Movement and immobility in nature, elements – actions of wind, water, earth, fire, the play of light and shadow, the passage of time and its mark, sound in nature, its cyclic energy, behaviour of animals and plants, also philosophical concepts – all of these elements are inspirational and encourages further creative activities. Projects will refer once to micro and once to macro scale, deriving from fractals and their structures, construction and living organisms.
Despite such a long tradition, the bionic approach to design has not ceased. In fact, it seems today it is particularly an important direction in design, when young people – potential designers – are living in a civilisation where on a daily basis they have fewer opportunities to be surrounded by nature, to observe it and its occurring phenomena. We are staring at monitors and we often forget to look around, feel and perceive. We often watch human creations and what is reproduced. It only takes a Wi-Fi connection to reach millions of people around the world at any moment. But nature, which surrounds us, can touch our individual senses, it is still unreadable and can evoke emotions needed by the designer.The best proof of its power is the fact that it has been delighting us regularly for thousands of years.
dr Patrycja Mikołajczak | curator