Artist Statement

Tags: Ecosystem, Manifestations Festival, Robots

Within the project A Diverse MonoCulture, van Leeuwenstein investigates whether it is possible to use robots to find a new balance in our ecosystem. After all, mankind naturally deploys new predators when something needs to be restored in an ecosystem. In ‘A Diverse Monoculture’ various robots come together to form ‘a beehive’ of new predators. These predators are used to restore the balance in our ecosystem by eating processionary caterpillars. The caterpillars are then converted into the fuel cells of the robots, so that they serve as fuel to keep the robot alive. http://www.jipvanleeuwenstein.nl/

• Jip van Leeuwenstein graduated at the Design Department of the HKU University of the Arts in Utrecht, the Netherlands, in 2017 and was part of the Young Talent programme of Manifestations. Jip van Leeuwenstein is a speculative designer questioning today’s society. His work balances between design and science. Jip?s projects are designed to make the spectator wonder; how did we arrive at this point? jipvanleeuwenstein.nl