Using intersections between natural and mechanical systems, David Bowen produces unique relationships within his sculptures and installations. With robotics, custom software, sensors, tele-presence and data, he constructs devices and situations that are set in motion to interface with the physical, virtual and natural world. His devices often play both the roles of observer and creator, providing limited and mechanical perspectives of dynamic situations and living systems. These devices and situations create a dissonance that leads to an incalculable changeable situation resulting in unpredictable outcomes. The phenomenological outputs are collaborations between the natural form or function, the mechanism and the artist.

The installation "tele-present wind" consists of a series of 126 x/y tilting mechanical devices connected to thin dried plant stalks installed in a gallery and a dried plant stalk connected to an accelerometer installed outdoors. When the wind blows it causes the stalk outside to sway. The accelerometer detects this movement transmitting the motion to the grouping of devices in the gallery. Therefore the stalks in the gallery space move in real-time and in unison based on the movement of the wind outside.

The sensor is installed in an outdoor location adjacent to the Visualization and Digital Imaging Lab at the University of Minnesota. Thus the individual components of the installation move in unison as they mimick the direction and intensity of the wind halfway around the world. As it monitors and collects real-time data from this remote and distant location, the system relays a physical representation of the dynamic and fluid environmental conditions.