Credit: Ars Electronica / Martin Hieslmair
Domas Schwarz (AT)
Icicles symbolize aesthetically pleasing but fragile objects whose long and elaborate process of formation can be negated in seconds by an unforeseen event. Domas Schwarz’s installation Wachstropf showcases the beauty of natural processes and the transience of the environmental states that we have naturally grown accustomed to, and constitutes a metaphor for the works created in this world by nature and humankind.
Digital media and technologies facilitate the development of seemingly natural structures that can be artificially reproduced over and over again. Wax icicles form around a light bulb, melt due to the heat released when the bulb is switched on, and form again after the bulb is turned off and cools down. This destruction, change of condition or transformation into a previous state or a new one gives rise to new processing possibilities and, in the sense of a lifecycle, creates an object that is constantly re-growing.
