Samaras

Samaras is a large kinetic sculpture, referencing the ingenious flying seeds, samaras, that extend the architectural language of the Terminal 3 in Guangzhou airport, an iconic "gateway to the world". The material language and the mechanical movement references the centuries of cultural exchange between the east and the west, once manifested in Victorian clockworks being reappropriated with the Lingnan craftsmanship.

The foundation of the work was my experience in creating mechatronic public artworks and the new dimension was the mediated process: It was possible through extensive use of digital tools and remote organisation. Software translated conversations, exchange of CAD models, remote video presence and 3D animations made it possible to work across continents and realise the work in time and budget. The gateway to the world today is not defined geographically, but through a complex rhizomatic network of commonalities.