Inspiration:
The inspiration came to me from multiple media that I had experienced in the duration of my life and conversations I had overheard growing up. I personally believe that religion is something very personal and that we all have our own links with our preferred entity somehow. While researching about Carl Jung's model of the psyche, I began to wonder about our free will and whether it exists at all. If everything is pre-determined, even our personality and nature, does that mean that our lives are controlled by a higher entity and that no matter what we do, we will end up on the path that is already paved for us? or do we make our own decisions that lead us through life and help us learning/uncovering more about ourselves?
My idea fits into the Maps and Networks category. I immediately thought of the nervous system which is arguably the most complex map and network system to exist. I thought of an arguement my grandfather and his sister would have about whether God has planned every little action of ours out or whether we we're put onto this planet with a set life but with the freedom to make choices that could alter our paths onto the many pre-determined ones.
Research:
For research, I watched Tom Chi's "Everything is Connected" TedTalk which touches upon the topic of how humans are connected to Galactic Clusters that we can find in deep space and our general connection to the universe.
Futher, I read up on Nietzche and his work on existentialism, specifically in "Zarathustra" where he brought up the still controversial topic of enlightenment replacing the possibility of the existence of God or a Higher Being in general. Nietzche mentioned that his work could have been misinterpreted into a form of nihilism, and he was correct in thinking so.
Then, I proceeded to do research on Jung's map of human psyche and how his work states that our natures are predetermined, the environment does not shape us, but rather we fill into the gloves that were made for us.
Execution:
I began my project by making the Fibre Optic/PVC cable nervous system in the 0.75mm and 1mm size. I used about 600 meters of the 0.75mm to make a bunch and fitted the single 1mm one in the middle to make a spleen.
I fit it onto a warm white light fixture that I bought and made a brain out of red yarn to hide the fixture in.
I proceeded to make the hands out of binding wire and mesh wire and covered it in a tissue and german glue makeshift plaster.
I made an audio for the background that is a mix of different hymns, chants and khutbas in multiple languages, to provide a more immersive experience for the audience. When you walk into the room, you hear an incoherent audio and pick up certain words from different parts of audios that only have the concept of divinity in common.
Set-backs:
The main setback I had was with the materials.
The Mesh/Chicken coop wire proved to be a very painful experience that I don't think I will ever be able to forget, it was quite sharp and shaping it while it coiled back into the roll I bought it in was quite a hassle and led to many breaks and layers of bandages and tape on my hands so that I could continue working.
Initially I planned to use plaster sheets to cover the hands but the cost ended up being too high, instead I bought packs of plaster of paris power and tried making a thick mixture to make a layer on top of the wire and fix the shape of the hands, but it proved to be very heavy and kept messing up the shape of the hand, the mixture was also not drying as it was the wrong consistency, so I had to break off chunks of the plaster from the wire piece by piece and then think of another solution.
Then I decided to cover it with the tissue and german glue mixture, like a paper mache coating on top of it and that was a long process but it paid off as it was the only one that worked out in the end.
Set-up:
Here is the display set up at home, I tried taking pictures of it in complete darkness and then one with a little bit of lit on it to see whether it would give the same level of impact if there is no pitch black room available. The set up also helped me decide how many torches I wanted to fit into the hands so that they light up evenly.
Problems:
During set-up at the university, the lightling in the brain was not working for some reason, so midway through, I was running around and trying to change the bulb in the brain, that meant cutting out the old bulb and also sacrificing the warm white tone I wanted for the nervous system initially.
The second bulb also wasn't working as we found out that there was an issue with the plug itself. We finally got the light running, just in time for the jury.
Second, there was no hook in the roof of the room for me to hang the brain from, despite specifically asking the teachers for one. I had to use an insane amount of duct tape and stick it to the roof but during the jury I could hear the tape slowly unsticking and it kept me on my toes.
Final Evaluation:
The feedback I recieved was mostly positive, the concept behind the project was complimented quite a lot. I was told that the hands were a little bit excessive and that I should have gone for a plain frame, but the teacher who was guiding us was encouraging me to make the hands despite the time constraints and despite the general look they were giving, I personally didn't like the hands either. The jury stated that the hands made the message too literal and that I should not be spoon-feeding the audiance my art and the meaning behind it. Otherwise they were quite happy with the work that was produced.
The feedack I got from the audiance was very good, a lot of people mentioned how the cats cradle aspect reminded them of their childhood and a lot of people asked me if I knew the answer to the question that the installation was posing to everyone.
Upon asking people about what words they heard in the audio, I recieved responses saying,
- We believe
- He made us
- Antichrist
- Him
- Creator
- Our Imagination
This is especially interesting because the words that were picked out were meant to signify the personal relationships everyone has with the higher entity that they believe in, so it was pleasant for me to recive such a wide array of responses.
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