Illuminated Truth
Luminaries
Our world has grown in that we can easily get information about far away places, people and events. At the same time we have become more disconnected by the crush of information shoved in our faces. We hear of wars being fought, but we are desensitized to the images of people in peril that we don’t know from places we have never been. Images of death and destruction flicker on our screens but we flip over to our favorite TV show and get more upset when a beloved character dies than we did over the images of dead children washing up on the beach. We swim through a sea of half-truths and outright lies touted as truth from those who would lead our nation while we try to discern which one of them is the lesser evil, which one of them won’t lead us to ruin. We live in a world that lacks context.
Context: the circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood and assessed.
Without Context, we cannot fully understand, assess, develop our own ideas or find the truth.
“Illuminated Truth” is a series of illuminated forms created using simple materials: reeds, tissue paper, Elmer’s glue and light. The luminaries evoke natural forms from a cocoon to the double helix of a DNA strand. While the forms evoke nature, they are not explicit allowing the viewer to see and place them within their own context, defining them according to their own ideas. Text on the surface comes from current newspaper articles, each word cut out individually, removing them from the context of their sentence, their article, their idea. They have been glued onto the surface of the luminary randomly, highlighting the jumble of information that we attempt to digest every day devoid of context and key information that would help us to find meaning and truth in the chaos. Then the light comes on, allowing the viewer to see the words no longer as information but as texture laid on the surface of form, describing the form, no longer individual and disconnected but a group with commonality. Within the random placement of the words, phrases and sometimes even full sentences can be found that might make sense depending on ones own context, ones own truth.
Each of these Luminaries is fully wired and ready to grace any space with warm, soft light.
Luminaries
Our world has grown in that we can easily get information about far away places, people and events. At the same time we have become more disconnected by the crush of information shoved in our faces. We hear of wars being fought, but we are desensitized to the images of people in peril that we don’t know from places we have never been. Images of death and destruction flicker on our screens but we flip over to our favorite TV show and get more upset when a beloved character dies than we did over the images of dead children washing up on the beach. We swim through a sea of half-truths and outright lies touted as truth from those who would lead our nation while we try to discern which one of them is the lesser evil, which one of them won’t lead us to ruin. We live in a world that lacks context.
Context: the circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood and assessed.
Without Context, we cannot fully understand, assess, develop our own ideas or find the truth.
“Illuminated Truth” is a series of illuminated forms created using simple materials: reeds, tissue paper, Elmer’s glue and light. The luminaries evoke natural forms from a cocoon to the double helix of a DNA strand. While the forms evoke nature, they are not explicit allowing the viewer to see and place them within their own context, defining them according to their own ideas. Text on the surface comes from current newspaper articles, each word cut out individually, removing them from the context of their sentence, their article, their idea. They have been glued onto the surface of the luminary randomly, highlighting the jumble of information that we attempt to digest every day devoid of context and key information that would help us to find meaning and truth in the chaos. Then the light comes on, allowing the viewer to see the words no longer as information but as texture laid on the surface of form, describing the form, no longer individual and disconnected but a group with commonality. Within the random placement of the words, phrases and sometimes even full sentences can be found that might make sense depending on ones own context, ones own truth.
Each of these Luminaries is fully wired and ready to grace any space with warm, soft light.
Process Shots
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When creating the commissioned luminaries, I realized that hanging them to work on the first set of "ribs" made getting to all the nooks and crannies easier. It also allowed the shapes to stay true and not flatten due to weight and the wet glue. I noticed that while waiting for it to dry it would slowly turn and I found that fascinating. Maybe a new series of works will come out of this!
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