The Biomechanical Aesthetic

Biological forms, natural environments, and technology are all made of matter.  This is the only trait, beyond being governed by the laws of logic and thus always taking forms within the spectrum of logical possibility, that is true by intrinsic necessity of all physical things.  What one sees in the external world is just a particular set of possible forms out of many.  Even now, outside of art, there is a sharp difference between the appearance of the natural world, the living bodies within it, and the technological devices and structures created within it.  The artistic style of biomechanical imagery does not maintain this separation.  Instead, technology (of a mechanical kind in many cases, but perhaps more advanced technology as well) is integrated with the flesh of creatures or the very layout of the broader physical environment to show how similar they can truly be.

In biomechanical art and the visual entertainment that uses this style, it is the merging of elements that are normally metaphysically separated and easily distinguishable that makes the aesthetic so intriguing for those who admire it.  This is distinct from art styles with landscapes that incidentally somewhat parallel biological forms; this would lack the mechanical aspects.  With the latter, the human body (though such imagery could evoke the physical forms of other creatures) and the general environment of matter in which the human body lives happen to mirror each other to some extent.  With the former, biological bodies--not the consciousness they could house, but the torso, limbs, heads, or even genitalia of organisms--and/or nature are shown converging with or mirroring something that is artificial, for technology, as opposed to the natural world or the body in its untouched state, is a creation of living things.

Electrical phenomena, other scientific occurrences, and the perceived laws of nature that govern them might be natural, but they do not form machines of an non-electronic or electronic kind, such as contemoprary vehicles or digital technology, apart from being assembled in such a way as beings arrange them.  The human body, in contrast, is one small part of the natural world, but the mind within it can imagine the two intertwined.  The body the mind resides within can then be used to create artistic or technological expressions of these biomechanical concepts.  Soon, transhumanist evolutions of the human body might make at least the body itself, if not the world around it, a more even mixture of body and technology than mere medical implants could ever bring about alone, but for now, it is art that best expresses these concepts.

The more extreme portrayals of biomechanics can blend the appearance of biological or other natural structures and technological creations so well that neither seems to overpower the other, instead having each converge with the other in a unity unseen, thus far, outside of artistic expression. That this is so foreign to our experiences in life is in part what makes biomechanical imagery such a powerful thing to explore in entertainment, especially in mediums like video games or films that involve more than static images.  As technology becomes more and more advanced and people look to it more and more as escapism, a solution to biological/environmental problems, and a philosophically deep thing in its own right, biomechanics could perhaps become something readily found outside of art.