Cameron Robbins is an example of an artist who uses weather to create art. He designed a series of 'wind drawing machines' that respond to wind speed and wind direction, translating the weather energy into abstract drawings on paper. "While it is a mechanical thing with axles, bearings, and pulley wheels, it also has inbuilt flexibility which allows it to respond to subtle and chaotic dynamics and to stray from any predetermined path."
It is this absence of predetermination that I find most attractive about these works. They are not drawings about the wind or responding to the wind; they are the wind. They exist purely as essences of themselves, without the hand of the artist to smooth out any lines or plan how the work should look. They form a unique sense of intimacy between viewer and weather, for a single piece of paper contains an entire weather system, from every gust to every light breeze. This thing, which typically occurs on such a large scale that it is impossible for a single person to experience more than a fraction of, is suddenly comprehendible in all its entirety.
Robbins' works assemble audience, artist and weather in a new set of social relations, constantly refreshing and reframing the context and conversations that his artworks drive. They have the innate ability to inspire new perspectives towards an already existing matter, something I would like to capture within my own art practice.
"Wind Drawings." Cameronrobbins.com. Last modified August 6, 2014. https://cameronrobbins.com/wind-drawings/.