Chaotic Encounters
Douglas Buis
May 15 – July 3, 1990
Douglas Buis, Chaotic Encounters, 1990; sand, aluminum, plexiglass, steel, wood; 36" H x 60" W x 30' L
Artist Statement
Chaotic Encounters describes the situation occurring in a plexiglass and aluminum wind tunnel as viewer activated fans, at either end, alternately blow sand dunes back and forth along the length of the tunnel. The sand, in motion, encounters rows of found objects, industrial residue.
Embedded in the earth, these objects create barriers around which the sand drifts and collects. They are of a specific nature - parts of machinery and mechanical objects - which are not recognizable as objects on their own but have an isomorphic relationship with naturally formed objects such as eroded rocks, tree trunks, bones or the sand dunes that form around them. The similarities are not so much in appearance as they are in spirit to the form of the found objects which are created according to the laws of physics, without thought to aesthetics. The visual dialogue between these objects and the dunes is always in flux. As the sand shifts, the objects are covered and discovered, re-covered and re-discovered.
Entropy and chaos are the dominant forces at play within the work. Entropy dictates the flow of energy, ensuring that the system will wear out and break down. Chaos gives shape to the forms of the system. The movement of the air and sand is not really chaotic, but possesses a deep, underlying, non-linear order. The subtle order binds the whirling sand to the metal beings.
There are the layers of sand, the layers of order within chaos and also the alternate layering of the artificial and the natural. The natural forms of sand are encapsulated within the tunnel, which is within the Garden, which is within the city and, in turn, within the surrounding country. The sand dunes and the Garden are not really natural phenomena. Within the set parameters of each, however, nature has a strong part. Once I have fabricated the work, I have no control over the path of the sand grains.
Within the complex layering is the ironic situation of a 'protected' nature. The sand dunes need the protection of the tunnel from the ravages of nature, humans included. This echoes our tendency to protect bits of nature within areas of destruction, sealed off for safe-keeping. Such isolation can eventually destroy the oasis. The environment can never be protected, but only have varying degrees of damage inflicted upon it.
