Cues from nature

Dear Artist,

No matter what our style, medium or subject matter, our work takes its cues from nature. Nature determines our accepted norms of beauty and is the basis of our ideas of design. These aesthetic semi-laws find their source in the tiniest forms — animal, vegetable and mineral. Through a universe of shells, flowers, scales, crystals, plumage, limbs, landforms, skies, to the very ends of the heavens, we read and delight in the creative hand of nature. There’s an education on the underside of any salamander.

Science writer Philip Ball has noted, “Artists are starting to use the pattern-forming algorithms like cellular automata to create visual art and music.” Actually, nature’s structures have been actively appropriated since the dawn of human art. Design within design is the nature of nature. This raw material is a gift to creators. Here are a few non-rigid thoughts for those who might be thinking about nature in their art:

Gradations attract, enfold and please.

Curves are more sensual than straights.

The obvious is enchanted by the hidden.

Protrusions are contrasted with indentions.

Patterns fascinate, involve and deceive.

Repetitions are to forms what beats are to music.

Symmetry mirrors and honours the human body.

Whorls and vortexes tempt and seduce.

Colour, pure or muted, is its own magic.

Strong contrasts provide drama and excitement.

Soft edges invite touch and caress.

Disappearing acts create mystery and intrigue.

Camouflage has both honour and mirth.

Bracts and branches are a principle of life.

Articulation rattles the bones.

Spikes and spines provide discomfort and unease.

Radiation echoes a sun god and the hand of man.

Water brings both tranquility and turbulence.

Squares and triangles give strength and stability.

The list goes on. Nature’s designs range from high schlock to understated good taste. They present us with an ever-changing march of variety and magnificence. “Nature,” says biologist Hans Meinhardt, “has been allowed to play.” Artists may take courage from this cue.

Best regards,

Robert

PS: “Nature is a dictionary; one draws words from it.” (Eugene Delacroix)

Esoterica: Witnessing natural biodiversity and the variety and adaptation of species, one might conclude that we are in a kind of Darwinian experiment where various models and designs are tested. Pure art, stripped of promotional baggage, operates in a similar way. “Appeal” is often the main criterion by which one piece stands out against the next — and determines survival. We are living at a time when design, designer, and the viewer of the design are all being tested. What about the idea of “progress”?

This letter was originally published as “Cues from nature” on February 3, 2006.

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“Nature is inside art as its content, not outside as its model.” (Northrop Frye)