The Concept Behind My Submission

The Brain Project - 2006 Theme: Borders

Definition of Borders: line dividing two areas.

Geometry for me is a philosophical language and it allows me to think about and explore very abstract areas of thought. Thus with the geometrically derived visual language I use in my work, I have decided to approach the theme ‘borders’ by asking the question, ‘what is the ultimate border? Or rather, what is the border that contains all borders?’
But questions like this are a bit dumb for an artist unless he can create something from it. So the real question for me is, ‘how do I represent visually, the ultimate complete picture of what this theme means to me?

I feel the theme can be explored in two distinct ways: one literal and delineable, the other conceptual and not delineable:-

1. Literal visual borders. Exploring the variety of possible borders within the visual language I am using. For Example: borders between light and dark, large and small, activity and non-activity, inside and outside, bold and subtle, and so on. The borders themselves can be explored in terms of, soft and hard, strong and weak, straight and curved, and so on.

For me, this measured, knowable and limited manifestation of borders serves as a essential contrast and complimentary backdrop to the sought after conceptual expression in this work.

2. Conceptual borders that cannot be shown or known. All things could be construed as having borders. Thus to explore ‘borders’ without being limited to literal examples like those above is to venture into quite metaphysical territory. From a mathematics point of view, anything that borders with absolute nothingness, relatively speaking has infinite magnitude. (x/0=infinity) Thus, that which borders nothing contains all borders and all things. From Zen we have: All Form Is Void: All Void Is Form.

That’s nice, but how do we show this as a logical visual representation? One way I have explored over the years is by using the humble circle as a visual analogy for a thing or value or a number or thought. The circle in this instance can represent the ‘idea of the border’, the radius of which representing its relative magnitude. Now, a circle can be visually represented as having zero radius as a coordinate, and at the other end of the scale, a part of a circle with infinite radius can be visually represented as a straight line. This then allows me to create a complete finite progression representing ‘all circles’, or using the analogy, ‘all borders’. This progression can been seen in my picture in the top left corner.

Along the vertical edge of the triangle we see the words: ‘All In One’. Within the progression all knowable borders intersect with this edge. Here comes Logical Paradox #1: if we actually dissected this edge an infinite number of times with all knowable borders we would find the difference in magnitude between each neighbouring border would be zero. The logic follows that the sum of these differences equals zero implying infinity and zero are the same. (All Form Is Void).

Along the top horizontal edge of the triangle we see the words: ‘One In All’. In the progression this edge is the segment of our circle of infinite radius, (our border containing all borders). Here comes Logical Paradox #2: if this edge is a segment from an infinite circle then its length relative to the circumference of the circle is zero. (1/infinity=0). (All Void Is Form).

So to complete the progression, the sides of the triangle extend round to form a circle, representing the implied logic that both horizontal and vertical sides of the progression triangle represent the same thing. The outer black border in this picture thus contains the metaphysical, conceptual and unknowable aspect of the subject. The inner patterned area represents the real world manifestation of the subject. A simple pattern for me is a good visual analogy for the rich complexity of life. Even a fractal looses its infinite nature as soon as it is rendered in a picture, so rather try and actually render infinite complexity, I use this simple analogy and hopefully maintain the integrity of my artistic language.

At the centre of the work is my ‘Empty Flowers In Space’ motif. These two flowers are intrinsically one. They/it represents the illusion of the world of relativity. The large and the small, as we see in the outer ring are not two. The flower/s sits in the same space as the outer white emptiness. Again inside and outside are not two. The arrow represents realisation. It points down and not up because the realisation that we are a part of all things and all things are a part of us, (all in one: one in all) is a profoundly humbling experience. It is not a lofty perception through which we view life, but a grounded experience that we are undivided from all things. (If only this is realised: then no more worry about being perfect)

Underlying geometry from the 'Empty Flower In Space' motif

Work displayed in one of my 'Node Frames' designed specifically for archival digital art prints