David Bowen is an artist whose work, from both a technical and critical standpoint, is quite amazing. One project in particular that fascinated me is Spacejunk, 2016. This installation, originally constructed in 2015 with only five twigs, uses 50 twigs connected to motors that all point in unison towards the oldest piece of human-made space debris, such as rocket bodies and parts from old satellites — some as old as 1958. Once the debris is on the same horizon as the installation the twigs follow its movement by pointing towards its location. When the “space junk” drops below the horizon the twigs return to a resting position. What I like about this work is that the mechanics are simple enough to grasp, along with the concept, however, there is a sophistication to the work, something almost methodical. I think a large proponent of that is due to the number of twigs and the simplicity of the technological elements.
