Inspiration can come from many places but there are some things that once seen are never forgotten. That's how I felt when I saw David Bowen's Telepresent Water installation. Maybe it's my science and tech background that made this so interesting...but overall it was the re-creation of the movement of the sea based on realtime data that I found so inspiring. It's still one of my all time favourite installations.
Seeing work like this changes my perspective...helps me see things in a fresh way.
tele-present water - 2011 This installation draws information from the intensity and movement of the water in a remote location. Wave data is being collected and updated from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data buoy station 51003. This station was originally moored 205 nautical miles Southwest of Honolulu on the Pacific. It went adrift and the last report from its moored position was around 04/25/2011. It is still transmitting valid observation data but its exact location is unknown. The wave intensity and frequency collected from the buoy is scaled and transferred to the mechanical grid structure, resulting in a simulation of the physical effects caused by the movement of water from this distant unknown location. This work physically replicates a remote experience and makes observation of the activity of an isolated object, otherwise lost at sea, possible through direct communication.
Extract from David Bowen's website (https://www.dwbowen.com/telepresentwater)