Biomimicry and Art: Transductions with Biology

Abstract

This article discusses the concept of Biomimicry, which has been applying in many fields, from nanotechnology to robotics. It is appearing in smart materials and machinic intelligence, for diverse purposes, being inspired by natural processes and organisms. The main application of Biomimicry has been to produce artifacts and ideas from what we can know about what nature has already done. While the mimesis has been removed from the vocabulary of Art, the works of some artists are still full of possibilities to discuss under the concept of Biomimetics. Many artists have dedicated themselves to the development of works using the poiesis of hybridization and mimicry. How close they approach of Biomimetics? As examples, are brought Walmor Corrêa, Patrícia Piccinini, Liu Xue, Berlinde De Bruyckere, Alessandro Boezio, Joan Fontcoberta and Pere Formiguera. This discussion is the starting point for introduce my project “VIRIDIUM”, in which I´m developing some semiautonomous and translucent robots, printed in 3D. The poetic basis is the possibility that nature has in hybridizing and evolving, spontaneously, as well as being hybridized by genetic manipulation. I propose the development of objects / beings that do not exist in the nature but refer and simulate behaviors of those who inhabit the world, in different kingdoms of Nature. I describe the first stage of the project, which focuses the Plantae kingdom (also known as Metaphyta). Afterwards of the Biomimicry (Biomimetics) and darwinian evolution concepts I bring the concept of Artification, as a possible model of understanding the poetic process, both in “VIRIDIUM” and in the works of the artists chosen.