"One Kind of Behavior,” an installation show that moves, will be open to the public at the Bronx Museum of the Arts in New York until Aug. 17. The thought-provoking landscape was dreamed up by Shyu Ruey-Shiann, a Taiwanese artist living on the East Coast.
Born in Taipei in 1966, Shyu (徐瑞憲) first built upon his knowledge of Western paintings and sculptures, before discovering machine-oriented art when he studied at the Aix-en-Province Art College in the south of France. He then began his artistic career in kinetic art, using man-made objects and mechanical movements to express his social and environmental concerns.
"One Kind of Behavior” was inspired by coast-dwelling hermit crabs, especially their quasi-mechanical movements as they methodically sift through mud to find sustenance. The artist uses the repetitive and collective behavior of organic beings to contrast our maneuvering of machinery. Moreover, just as hermit crabs have no choice but to inhabit shells discarded by other species, we too, depend on external resources for our livelihoods.
Using metal buckets, motors, and remote sensors, Shyu creates an undulating and slow-moving landscape of small pails that open and shut with seemingly group think. Amid the clam-like repetition and the intermittent pitter-pattering, the movement on the wooden floor is but an imitation of life, as the machines have no will of their own.
The artist, who hopes the audience will consider "the environmental consequences of our mechanical impulses on nature,” will also be featured in an open forum organized by the 1040 Lounge on July 18 at 6:30 PM.
‘One Kind of Behavior'
- Exhibition Date: May 1 to Aug. 17, 2014
- Venue: The Bronx Museum of the Arts
- Address: 1040 Grand Concourse, Bronx, New York 10456
- Website: www.rueyshyu.com/2014-exhibition/
‘Artist Spotlight with Shyu Ruey-shiann'
- Date: July 18, 6:30 PM to 9 PM
- Venue: North Wing Lobby (Bronx Museum)
- Address: 1040 Grand Concourse, Bronx, New York 10456
- Website: http://www.bronxmuseum.org/