Biomimicry is the "imitation of natural biological designs or processes." Chinese sculptor, Ren Ri is a research-based artist focusing on the fields of biology, science, mechanics, engineering, and art. When I first saw Ren Ri's work, the sculptures seemed pretty but not until I learned of his process did I truly understand how impressive and unorthodox his work is. Ren Ri has studied eusocial insects but specifically his work centers around human and bee interactions. With assistance from his studies of bee psychology and collaboration with insects, he creates mesmerizing sculptures out of beeswax. Ren Ri's inspiration for his sculptures comes from the beauty of humans interacting with nature. These interactions could be full of destruction or harmony and the results can be wondrous.
Yuansu, his most famous and first series, has three distinct parts. Yuansu can be translated as "a comprehension of the gestalt of life." Yuansu I was a series of beeswax maps. Yuansu II Ren Ri placed the queen in the middle of a box and let the worker bees build around her, rotating the box occasionally to create a beautiful design. Yuansu III is a performance series where Ren Ri offered his own face as the canvas, pushing bees into his face resulting in multiple stings.
http://www.pearllam.com/artist/ren-ri/
http://lovebeeswax.com/category/artists/r/ri-ren
This is amazing. As someone who has gotten stung by my fair share of bees, I'm not sure I could ever do something like this, let alone think of it in the first place. The idea of cooperating with nature to create art is so intriguing, and probably opens up a whole host of other possibilities with other animals and forms of life. Thanks for sharing, this is really cool!
ReplyDeleteThis was such an interesting post to read. I could never have imagined someone working with bees (or any insect) to create new forms of art before reading this. The idea of working in tandem with nature as a means of creating something new to be enjoyed visually by humans is really fascinating and begs so many questions about how humans can interact with our environment and utilize it to craft our own creative products that others can enjoy and be inspired by.
ReplyDeleteI actually found myself in the same place you did, thinking that these pieces are, of course, beautiful art but lacking the precise idea of what make them so beautiful. Reading that he actually let the bees build a piece around the queen was fascinating. Not only was he actually just manipulating natural processes, the time and foresight it must have taken to create such a unique piece is fascinating. What a unique way to show the worth of bees. Not only do they make honey and pollinate, they also create art!?
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing this absolutely fascinating and unique work! I love the idea of working with bees to create sculpture, and I can only imagine how difficult that must have been. In my experience with beekeeping, it is really inherently cooperative, and it’s so beautiful that Ri is using that cooperative nature of beekeeping to create something new.
ReplyDeleteThis was so interesting to read about! I love when artist use natural elements in their art, and I feel like this was a completely new way to work with nature.
ReplyDeleteThe second I saw bees in the title I was like "oh that's cool"- and yeah it really does seem interesting. I love bees and it is amazing to see artists create works out of the interactions between people and nature, there is certainly a wealth of material to be tapped into for it. Thanks for sharing this amazing art!
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