F10W3R digital-physical sculpture by Henry Chu x Batten and Kamp launches at Digital Art Fair

Design-art duo Batten and Kamp together with digital artist Henry Chu, explore a post-nature future, in their new collaborative sculpture ‘F10W3R’. The piece combines both a video artwork and a physical sculpture, both depicting natural life using human-made materials.

F10W3R consists of a circular LCD screen, mounted to a green marble boulder as if growing organically from it. The sculpture displays a digital animation which simulates the blooming and withering of 21 flowers, the colours of which are sampled from the real world. Every digital flower is represented by 200 cubes unfolding and folding with life cycles around 6 seconds. Smaller flowers sprout from the base as physical assemblages made from 3d printed resin, LED lights and off-the-shelf electrical components.

The piece is imagined as a reinterpretation of a flower, from a time after their extinction. An attempt to recreate natural beauty based on data or DNA retrieved from the 21st Century. While it carries a post-apocalyptic story, F10W3R is intended to have a positive message - a celebration of the beauty of our natural world.

“We wanted to create a man-made flower from year 2122, which is built from scraps of technical gadgets, where we extract the incomplete flower DNA from stone and generate a moving flower image.” - Henry Chu

“The artwork extends through time - millions of years ago the marble was formed from limestone, heat and pressure in the earth's crust, 250 years ago the industrial revolution enabled automation and the manufacturing of mechanical componentry, 70 years ago we figured out computing, 40 years ago we coined the term ‘Digital Art’, and 8 years ago the first NFT was sold. These moments in history make this kind of artwork possible but we see the sculpture as a future story - an evolution in our thinking around nature and technology. Perhaps a post-nature story, perhaps a new-nature story.” - Batten and Kamp

The artists drew reference from their shared love of science fiction films like Annihilation and Blade Runner as well as the cyberpunk aesthetic of their city of residence - Hong Kong.

“Hong Kong is a city where nature and structure coexist in a very dramatic way. Living here gives you a potential view of the future. Architecture corrupts nature and nature corrupts architecture in a constant fight, or a dance, depending which way you choose to look at it”. - Batten and Kamp

As admirers of each other’s work the two creative parties came together to create a piece that could bridge the digital and physical gap while still staying true to their separate practices. The artwork builds upon Henry Chu’s previous series of digital artwork called ‘100 Flowers’ and Batten and Kamp’s sculptural furniture works combining natural boulders with industrial materials.

“We've been wanting to do the digital art thing for a while but didn't want to jump the fence in an inauthentic way. Henry knows what he is doing in the digital world and we know sculpture, so collaborating is a way for us both to create discipline-bridging works while staying true to what we do.” - Batten and Kamp

F10W3R will be launched in Hong Kong at Digital Art Fair 2022, the second installment of the world's leading Web 3.0 fine art fair. It is available in an edition of 3 unique works each comprising both a physical sculpture and accompanying NFT.

F10W3R Henry Chu x Batten and Kamp LCD display with generative video, green marble, 3Dprinted resin, mechanical and electrical components. Video loop, 1024 x 1024px, Duration 1:30 800mm W x 500mm D x 1200mm h Each unique, Edition of 3