Preview: The Living Machine

A new wave of creatives is examining how industrialisation and the growing demands of consumerism have affected the natural environment. Manifesting itself in product design, material experiments and spatial and digital installations, this new direction seeks to combine biomimetic qualities with the mathematical precision of computer-generated geometries.

Natural phenomena such as tornados and water currents are recreated in man-made settings as artists assert their dominance over the elements. This dynamic is best represented in Anish Kapoor’s installation at Galleria Continua in San Gimignano, Italy. Located in the floor of a former theatre space, Descension is a seemingly bottomless black hole filled with violently spinning water that draws in the viewer’s gaze.

The Big Picture: To learn more about how the Whole-system Thinking approach is influencing visual culture, read our macro inspire The Living Machine.