Flowform
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Flowforms (also known as water sculptures and water art) is a sculpture artform in which a form is created that promotes the movement of water in a figure of eight motion.
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[edit] History of Flowforms
The Flowform Principle was discovered by John Wilkes in the 1970 as a result years of research into forms in nature, and their metamorphosis in space and time. These studies included the geometry of crystals, forms and growth patterns in many types of plants, all the heirachies of animal life, especially concentrating on bone morphology and organ formation in embryology, plus the distinctiveness of the unique human shape and function.
Wilkes was playing around with the symmetry of the meander when the pulsing figure-8 flowpattern emerged in his research sculptures. The specific definition of a Flowform requires this figure8 pulse to occur, without the Flowform itself moving tomake this happen.
Since that time there have been around 2000 projects installed in 50 countries around the world.
Flowforms are thus eco-artistic technologies. However, they are also claimed to probably increase the "capacity of water to support life."[citation needed] However it is not defined exactly what is meant by this, or how it is achieved.
- We are looking at the idea of 'rehabilitating' water to move , thus nurturing its regenerative ability. By encouraging it to move through a spectrum of rhythms and over a rich palette of surface qualities and movement, as the example illustrates, Nr 6b through this treatment water might be elevated again towards a nurturing of nature's wisdom filled formative processes.[1]
DESCRIPTION
In its simplist terms however, a Flowform is a technically designed surface usually incorporated into a sculpted 3 dimensional artistic shape. This surface enables water to develop and maintain an oscillating side-to-side, figure8 flowpattern that has a rhythm.
As well as being fascinating to watch and hear, many people experience this water movement as therapeutic and calming. With limited resources, research over 30 years has shown that Flowforms oxygenate well, can move water in laminar or chaotic ways for smooth or turbulent mixing and also has created a firm hypothesis that Flowforms apply rhythms to water with probable improvement in the capacity of the water to support living organisms. This hypothesis is based on the idea that simple living organisms which have rhythmic pulsing do not need a heart because oftheir relative simplicity, and that nature has endowed more complicated organisms with a heart as a means of intensifying and controlling their life rhythms. On this basis by supplying systole/distole rhythms to water, possibly lifts this water up into an intensifying life support condition. As stated, there has been sufficient application of this in various situations to create a firm hypothesis as basis for properly funded research in due course.
The understanding behind Flowforms is life centered, particularly that rhythm in nature is something inherent to living processes, not simply caused by bio-mechanical actions. Without the rhythm, there is no life. For instance, embryo have their own tiny rhythms before a heart is formed, and further to that it is apparent from embryology that the rhythmic flow at this early stage causes the shape and behaviour of the heart to occur.
In short, there is much that is not known about nature's creative workings and the methods that stand behind the creation of Flowforms seek 'to learn from nature in order to design with nature." Without a change in human thinking in this direction, using an apt analogy, human beings will continue being the member of the planetary orchestra who is not in time, is out of tune and generally not even unaware that any music is being played.
[edit] Affiliates
There is an International Flowform Association, made up of affiliates to the work pioneered and still led by John Wilkes from his Virbela Rhythm Research Institute in Emerson College, Sussex England.
As well, there is the International Flowform Design Research Association, made up of those handful of sculptors and scientists who are recognised designers of genuine Flowforms.
[edit] Some Artists
- John Wilkes /England
- Nigel Wells /Sweden
- Iain Trousdell /New Zealand
+ Paul van Dijk /Holland + Hanne Keis /Denmark
- Sven Schunemann /USA
[edit] Footnotes and references
- ^ Background, on virbelaflowforms.anth.org.uk
Sven Schunemann USA Herbert Driezitel Germany
[edit] External links
- Wellnessgoods[1]
- US Flowforms[2]
- Virbela Flowforms
- Flowforms: Water Features In Tune with Nature
[edit] Further reading
- Flowforms: The Rhythmic Power of Water, John Wilkes, ISBN 0-86315-392-5
