The Language of Process Exhibition Visit

While visiting the exhibition I found one piece of particular interest - 'Earthbowl' by Fluid Forms (2008), who are an Austrian company that allow their customers to design their own products. They are able to do this through the use of Google-Maps and NASA satellites which the customer uses to select an area of the world that interests them which can be translated into individual customised designs such as a fruit bowl or a wall-hanging, for example. The products are made out of laminated walnut and maple plywood which, when cut using a CNC Router (a computer controlled shaping machine), are hand sanded, oiled and polished to finish the product professionally. The CNC Router technique creates contour lines on the plywood which reflect the gradient of the earth. I find this and the texture of the piece particularly inspiring and I feel the piece links to my work through the use of the Earth as data and how it changes through time. This links to my project because I have concentrated so far on how natural objects change through time such as flowers decaying and how the rings within a tree trunk determine how old the tree is which is what the piece reminds me of (see image below).