Saturday, August 13, 2011
Illumination
The concept of this project is summed up into one question: Can art inspire an epiphany through a simple imagery?
The epiphanies I’m working with are from actual people. I’ve linked up each epiphany to Buddhist proverbs. (As best I can)
The project is composed of 10 thin porcelain tiles displayed horizontally across the wall. Each tile will come off the wall about 1-1.5 inches and will have a single light behind it.The tiles will be transparent enough to be illuminated.
The individual tiles will represent one epiphany. To me an epiphany is a small enlightenment and I use the words interchangeably. The image will hopefully teach the viewer something about life; maybe the epiphany is something they have already pondered or may have never thought about before. The later would be ideal because it could awaken the possibility of having an epiphany.
The images portrayed on the tiles are subtle. I plan on using only clear glaze to enhance certain parts of the image while leaving the rest of the porcelain free from glaze. This will create an interesting contrast, Shine vs. Matte. The subtlety of the image combined with the lightened porcelain should make the image stand out just enough that viewer will have to take a moment to really see the message. I want the viewer to have an “Oh! I get it” moment.
The lightened clay symbolizes the enlightenment. With most epiphanies they come on suddenly and they are fuzzy; like the feeling of a word at the tip of your tongue.
I’m thinking about having the actual quote of the epiphany under each tile. The only problem with that is the viewer will usually look at the quote before looking at the image. I would want the image to influence the thought and then have the quote there to ensure the message was received.
As this project stands right now I do not want to disclose any further information regarding the quotes or the imagery of the project. I feel if I talk about the imagery too soon the project wont have the same effect. Right now I'm working on translating the epiphanies into images and will have images of these tests up soon. This project will take great care in creating so it may be a while before I have anything concrete. Keep posted for more information.
