Maps And Networks 1 "The Divine Reality" Idea + Research

Initial Idea:

My first idea came into my mind when the teacher for our innnovation and interference class was discussing the topics we were to be given for our projects and as soon as he mentioned "Maps and Networks" I immediately thought of the human nervous system and sketched out the idea I had for it and how I would add in a brain and eyes with an led light outline of a human body to make it more blatant that it is supposed to be a human. I thought about the entire process of messages being sent all over our bodies through the nervous system and remembered a picture I had seen of the nervous system of Harriet Cole from the 19th century. 

I wanted to incorporate the age long debate of whether humans and their lives are completely decided by fate or if our lives are direct consequences of our own actions. So the nervous system represents the human and how we think for ourselves and make our decisions and then I decided to incorporate an asian lore into it by wrapping the nervous system in the "The Red Thread of Fate" in a Cats Cradle shape around rectangular frames that would be present on either side of the brain, a game I played with thread in my childhood that seemed as if the thread was tangled when in actuality, every move was pre-planned so that the thread would end up in various shapes. In some cases, the game would even require two players, thus catering to different beliefs, ones that have singular Gods and those that have multiple ones.

After the first discussion and review on my miniature model, I was told to make the display more open to interpretation and abstract by removing the LED frame outline of a silhouette of a head and shoulders that I had planned initially. As I progressed the idea further, I decided to change the rectangular frames into hands to make it seem as if the higher entity was playing with our lives.

In the installation, the Red Thread of Fate is connnected to the to brain, or can be considered an extention from the brain, to signify that whether the divine entity made us or if we made them up in our minds. 

For another sensory factor, I want to add in an audio which is comprised of layered sermons from different religions. It will be comprised of mantras, khutbas, christian and hebrew sermons and a few more. I want the viewers to walk into the area of the display and be immersed in the entire installation and pick up whatever they can or want to hear from the audio.

Research:

For research on my idea, I found Tom Chi's TedTalk "Everything is Connected" which touches upon the topic of how humans are connected to Galactic Clusters that we can find in deep space and the image of their cores reminded me of a toy light I used to buy when I was younger. The material used in them were fibre optic / pvc plastic wires, which is what led me to use those in the centre of my project as the nervous system branching out from the brain.

Tom Chi's TedTalk

                  

For the brain, I decided to use Yarn to invoke a sense of comfort. The reason I want this feeling to be invoked is because religion for most people is a belief of a higher entity or multiple ones that get worshipped inexchange for things we find unattainable or have no control over. they grants us mercies and miracles, so it could be argued that they exist to give us a sense of comfort and the afterlife adds a sense of meaning to our lives as we tell ourselves that it's something we can work towards, as humans have a tendancy towards having an existential crisis if they feel that their life does not having meaning.

Does free will exist? 

In Carl Jungs studies of the map of the soul, there is an aspect of the Collective Unconcious where he discusses how human nature and traits are all passed genetically and states how contrary to popular belief, the environment does not mold the child but instead allows the childs true nature to be revealed. there is no impact or influence, just pre-determined nature.

In the movie "The invention of Lying" the concept of a world where lies do not exist is introduced and as Ricky Gervais' character comes across an issue at work, he lies and starts continuing it as he realizes people believe everything he says. He achieves money, fame and much more just because of that, so what if humans were the same at a very early point of their existence. What if one day, someone decided to lie and make up a divine entity just to be able to control other through prophecies sent directly to them?

For the audio part of the installation, I mainly did research on religions and what sort of sermons or preaching methods they have and collected information on whether it would be offensive for me to include them as part of the installations.

Initial Execution

For my initial execution, I made a miniature model of my installation. I decided that I would make the hands out of mesh wire and maybe cover it in paper mache or plaster so that they appear white.

Conclusion:

I will continue with the project as planned and try to tackle the issue of making large hands out of wire, which could prove to be quite difficult. The first component I am expecting to complete is the nervous system made of fibre optic / pvc cables and fitting them into a box with a light source and wrapping it in yarn and then I will proceed through the rest of it.