About the work
My works generally deal with the natural resource water and can be classified in the subfields of microbiology and macrobiology; in a way, they refer to the sector of sustainability. The digital work consists of a series of five posters. These works are intended to show the importance of water, using the creation of Volvox as an example. Only through the help of water in the form of bodies of water is it possible for this species to emerge, survive and reproduce. Not only for the genus Volvox water is essential for survival, but also for almost all plants, animals, and also for humans. In everyday life, it is hard for us to imagine life without water. Drinking, cleaning, cooking, and showering are just a few of the countless examples of this precious and valuable commodity. The aim is to sharpen the viewer‘s eye by means of the graphically microscopically enlarged view. What applies to the micro level in relation to microorganisms can also be related to the macro level. This is accompanied by the call for a more respectful and sustainable approach to the natural resource of water. Questions that deal with this are for example: How can water be efficiently saved for everyday use? In which activities, for example, can the waste of water be greatly reduced?
Everyone should answer these questions for himself and at best contribute a part to it!
The future goal is based on efficient and precautionary use of water, which ensures the security of water for future generations.
Interpretation
Volvox belongs to the genus of multicellular green algae that grow and live in water. This genus includes about 20 species. The earliest description of Volvox goes back to the famous Dutch microscopist Antoni van Leeuwenhoek in 1700. Volvox is a very small hollow sphere that can consist of 500 to 60,000 cells. The spheres themselves, have only 0.15-1 mm in diameter. Therefore, they can only be seen under a microscope. Reproduction of Volvox also called spherical algae, is both – sexual and asexual –. The locomotion of this type of greenery is based on a rolling motion.
Volvox is mostly found in water bodies, lakes, and pools. They are also capable of forming bluish, reddish, and greenish algal blooms. They often perform migrations during the day, swimming back to the exposed zone. The reason for the migrations is probably the nutrient uptake of phosphate.
My graphic work is subject to a systematic concept. Black areas that are still inhabited are shown (mostly in the form of circles, rectangles, squares, triangles, and ellipses). Already animated places are represented as modified/pure and colored basic forms. The main focus, i.e. the genus Volvox, is mostly shown as outlines of different colors in the form of circles, which are provided with dots (cells) on the inside. The second main element is the water, which is shown as organic-moving bluish lines, which run through the entire space and often connect with the above-mentioned colored areas. The bluish lines are represented in different stroke widths as well as in many different branches. This once again illustrates the diversity of water; similar to, for example, the ramifications of a tree or nerve cells in a brain, which are to be understood as an allegorical transition. The background is held in a yellowish color -symbolically standing for the light.
The principle of this work is relatively simple; only if these bluish lines (water) touch the inanimate black surfaces it comes to the formation of microorganisms (here Volvox) and/or to the formation of green, red and blue algal blooms (as colored surfaces marked). However, if the blue lines do not reach the black surfaces, they remain inanimated and no spherical algae (Volvox) are formed.
The work is to be understood as a kind of infographic and follows a certain pattern.
Note: The representation is simplified and serves a better understanding.
