Text Dorine van Gorp
© Patty van Elshout, Textile Museum
How does technology inspire artists? In this feature, an artist explains.
Poietic Veil
Is it alive?
In the Interactive Environments Minor, just under 40 students from different degree programmes worked with Canadian artist and researcher Philip Beesley to create the interactive artwork Poietic Veil.
Beesley’s body of work consists of ‘living architecture’ and experimental installations. Using a computer, he designed a suspended structure, resembling a cloud-like coral reef, made from metal and plastic components produced by students. In creating the artwork, they were given the chance to experiment with shapes, structures and materials in order to tweak the elements.
“It’s become this moving organism made of motors, vibrations and lights”, industrial design engineering student Jeroen Heijmans explains. “It responds when you walk past it, but it can also make random movements: it has a life of its own.” Heijmans decided to enrol in the minor because of his interest in art. He designs his own organic tables in his spare time and enjoys working with wood and fabric. “I’m fascinated by the capriciousness of handmade products.”
Although the students used 3D printers and laser cutters to make the components, they were given ample opportunity to craft them by hand too, “for example by contorting the metal cutouts into 3D shapes and assembling everything manually”, Heijmans explains. The interactive art project even inspired Heijmans to intern with an interactive art company, forever changing how he looks at his surroundings. “I find myself thinking about ways to use interactive elements to make spaces more comfortable, stimulate the environment and make the world a more beautiful place.
The first “test setup” of the co-created work has now been put on display at the Science Centre on campus. Beesley continued to develop the installation as part of his new exhibition ‘Is it alive’. The artwork will continue to grow, incorporating new technologies until it is installed in the new Science Centre in 2028.
You can visit ‘Is it alive’ in Tilburg’s Textile Museum until 7 April 2024