CLARKSVILLE, TN — Now through May 25, the Orgain Gallery of the Customs House Museum & Cultural Center is bringing together art and design with environmental science using artifacts, artworks and photography, as well as interactive learning stations, with the exhibit Nature’s Blueprints: Biomimicry in Art & Design. Some of the learning stations include a Velcro touch station, an echolocation activity that teaches about the way bats navigate through sound, an infrared radiation activity, and several video learning stations about nature-related sculptures.
In an age of complex environmental challenges, why not look to the ingenuity of nature for solutions? The forms, patterns, and processes found in the natural world—refined by 3.8 billion years of evolution—can inspire our design of everything from clothing to skyscrapers. This approach to innovation, called biomimicry, is becoming increasingly popular.
Biomimicry is not a novel idea; Gaudí and Da Vinci both took inspiration from nature. Modern science and technology, however, are rapidly expanding the types of materials and systems we can create. Bird wings. Spiderwebs. Rainbow trout. These have inspired design improvements that enable faster travel, safer bridges, and more effective wind turbines. Similarly, biomimicry in art is a process that entails exploring the material properties, cycles, and dynamics of nature, and how whole biological systems are structured—and putting that into works of art. Artworks and designs that are rooted in the laws and forms of nature can address pressing issues, such as conservation, sustainability, and environmental justice. They can also spark an interest in, and connection with, nature.
This exhibition is aimed to encourage discourse among audiences of all backgrounds, as our understanding of the natural world can lead to some extraordinary creations that improve lives and reduce our impact on the environment. Nature’s Blueprints: Biomimicry in Art and Design is an adaptation of the High Desert Museum’s Innovation Lab: Design Inspired by Nature, and is produced and toured by ExhibitsUSA, a program of Mid-America Arts Alliance.