Pre-critique analysis and goals for this piece included:
- activation of the viewer
- controlling/restriction of the viewer’s vision
- black curtains/black cube refers to holy experience of drawing willingly near to the unknown
- inner reflection, reflective film yields a self-referencing experience in place of any viewer expectation and turns the lens on the viewer
- occupy space rather than filling it
The photograph and the painting of the photograph of the peephole are also reference material. They are also self referencing. They are not-so precious (unframed), a reflection of reality, an abstraction of reality, and a reassertion of the subject of this work. They also allude to the impossibility of documenting individual experience.
I intended the experience of this piece to yield (a) a curiosity about the unknown, (b) an enticement to look and (c) a discovery of the self looking back at one’s self.
Post critique analysis:
Although questions arise about the necessity of the painting and photograph, I believe they are necessary to reassert the additional meaning of the piece. This piece keeps giving as I am now curious about how the individual experience is impossible to accurately record and impossible to duplicate. In relationship to the viewer as participant and co-author, this piece illuminates the multiple perceptions of viewers and thereby the multiplicity of reality distinct to each individual. It wasn’t apparent to me at the time, but that is the way art operates. The idea exists on a certain level in our mind and when it is born, it matures and grows, if properly nurtured, into something greater and unexpected.
The subject of looking into the void and finding yourself there looking back at you became paramount.
Another revelation, my desire to paint is not diminishing and I plan to incorporate it more into future installation work.
