 |
| This & Following Three Images: '[dc]circuit Suite, Mock-Up A'. 1:10 Scale Model, MDF, Card & Paper, 2026 |
This marks the culmination of my ‘[dc]circuit’ suite of paintings, as featured in a series of recent posts. As I have already mentioned several times, it was always my intention to produce these five closely-related panels as a composite whole, to be hung together, should the situation ever arise. Although they were all completed some months ago, the problem of exactly what that configuration should be remained, not least because the varying formats and dimensions suggested something other than a simple straight-line arrangement. Without a convenient wall of sufficient scale to physically experiment (even were one to commit to the process of repeatedly fixing/making good), a scale model was the obvious tool to employ - the results of which you can see here.
As is so often the case (for me, at least), this turned into a slightly over-engineered mini-project in its own right. However, the process proved fruitful, providing more than one possible configuration for potential use in the future. Mocking it all up at 1:10 scale gave just enough space for a camera to effectively share the potential viewer’s point of view, and to give the impression of occupying the same physical space as the paintings themselves. This often feels like the hardest thing to envisage when approaching any display or exhibition situation (physical ‘presence’ feels increasingly fundamental, in my view), and anything one can do to answer the attendant spatial conundrums feels like time and effort well spent. That’s not to say that further fine-tuning would never occur on any given hang, but starting out with a reasonably confident plan to work out from will usually save a lot of floundering around, particularly where practicalities deviate from the ideal (as is usual).
At the moment, I feel like my second attempt ('Mock-Up B') is my favoured solution here, although any of these configurations would probably work pretty well. I’m sure I could play around a lot more (and I probably will, in idle moments), but for now, it’s pleasing to know that the five panels should work well enough together with some degree of flexibility, and that all the hours that went into their production weren’t totally wasted. Let’s face it, getting one painting to function is hard enough - juggling multiples is something else again. Do I think everything is 100% successful? - well, nothing really ever is, obviously. Do I feel sufficiently content to stand by them, both as individual elements, and as a composite group? - yes, I think I do.
 |
| This & Following Five Images, '[dc]circuit Suite, Mock-Up B', 1:10 Scale Model, MDF, Foamboard, Card & Paper, 2026 |
So, it just remains to give a final overview of the supposedly alchemical chromatic scheme that functions across the five panels. As discussed before, the idea of a clumsy search for auto-didactical enlightenment is signalled by both the references to specific authors/philosophers and the depiction of lighting circuits included in each of the panels. This led, tangentially, via some coincidental reading [1.], to an association with the whole idea of alchemical tradition, being both a (misguided) experimental attempt to transfer base metals into more precious alternatives, and a parallel (possibly equally misguided?) search for knowledge, wisdom, or even spiritual elevation, through a corresponding series of defined stages. Depending on which sources/traditions one refers to, the number and exact significance of such stages may vary widely. However, it is generally the case that any particular stage in a move towards ‘enlightenment’ can be mapped onto a possible chemical reaction/process, and by extension - an identifying colour (be it symbolic or physical). This felt like an appropriate serendipitous scheme to hang my suite of paintings on - a handy, ready-made solution, if you like. The rational for it is as follows…
 |
| This & Following Four Images: '[dc]circuit Suite: Mock-Up C', 1:10 scale Model, MDF, Foamboard, Card & Paper, 2026 |
Black [‘Nigrido’]: Black seems a fitting enough identifier for Jean-Paul Sartre, the most famous of the Twentieth Century Existential philosophers - and one which might signify both the despair often attributed to his world view, and the void that he and others of an existential bent are assumed to be routinely staring into. In alchemical terms, black (carbonisation) represents both the breaking down of source materials through combustion, and the dissolution of the self/ego complex through psychosis, prior to a more enlightened process of reconstruction. In ‘Nausea’ [2.], Sartre describes his protagonist’s traumatised acceptance of the meaningless of existence, and subsequent embrace of a creative path of self-actualisation (as a fiction-writer) as the only possible way forward.
White-Grey [‘Abledo’]/Blue-Green [‘Prismatic’]: The dedicatee here is Jorge Luis Borges - surely a prime figure in Twentieth Century philosophical fiction writing. I now wonder if I missed an opportunity to include a little silver here, given Borge’s Argentinian heritage, although this one really comes too early in the alchemical process to actually produce any precious metals. Alchemically, the white phase can be seen as signifying purification or absolution, as the physical/spiritual residue of the primary stage are washed away. My panel turned out more grey than white, but this feels acceptable enough, as accents of white gradually emerge - as if from a mess of ashes. For many alchemists, a fleeting but ultimately deceptive prismatic blue-green phase - often called ‘The Peacock’s Tail’, may also manifest at this stage (as in my circuit). This signifies a seductive, false impression of success, with ‘chasing the peacock’s tail’ meaning essentially to mistake the map for the terrain. The labyrinths in which one might thus become lost are a prime Borgesian motif, and the direct overlaying of an actual-sized map onto the actual landscape forms one of his most astounding images in ‘On Exactitude in Science’ [3.].
Yellow [‘Citrinitas’]: For a spiritual/philosophical alchemist, the yellow (sulphurous) phase may represent a movement, from a lunar/silver/reflective consciousness, towards a solar/golden/affective mode. It can be seen as a first step preceding true self-actualisation. Accordingly, we can see Marcel Proust’s multi-volume opus, ‘A la Recherche du Temps Perdu’ [4.], as one man’s attempt to reclaim too many early years wasted in vain pursuit of society’s superficialities, via an extensive creative act of memory-based psychic reprocessing. As with Sartre, fiction-writing is the chosen method employed. Certainly, he claimed to have succeeded in reframing his life to his own satisfaction as a result. When I close my eyes, I often see Proust’s sensuously remembered world as bathed in yellow light. It’s probably just a fond imagining of all those lost, shimmering French summers, or perhaps an impression of the beach at Balbec.
Red-Purple [‘Rubredo’]: As it is dedicated to Gilles Deleuze - the philosophical figure presiding most powerfully over all of this work, it seems only fitting that the fourth panel should reflect the colours of the alchemists' fabled ‘Philosopher’s Stone’. For the more financially-driven practitioner, this fugitive, magical substance is the catalyst necessary for the final production of material gold. For those dedicated to a less worldly path, it may actually be the more valuable substance - being magically able to unlock whole new dimensions of philosophical understanding or spiritual enlightenment, beyond mere riches. Key to this is the idea of a cyclical process of ever-becoming, with enlightenment being essentially ineffable - even as it is perpetually unfolding. Clearly, that all sounds pretty ‘woo-woo’, until one remembers that Deleuze, and his collaborator, Félix Guattari, regarded the philosophical framework they laid-out in ‘Anti-Oedipus’ [5.] and ‘A Thousand Plateaus’ [6.] as being, above all, rooted in practical action in the material world. For them, a state of perpetual becoming was key to the potential avoidance of ossified or destructive influences in the world, and a state of being to be most fervently wished for (not least for anyone engaged in self-identifying creative endeavour, or in opposition to any perceived descent towards the Fascist imperative).
Gold: In alchemical terms, gold is, of course, the impossible goal [7.], and as such - the single most potent signifier of venality, hubris and pre-scientific misunderstanding - all rolled into one lump of shiny shit (now, who does that make us think of on the present-day world stage, I wonder?) As mentioned in my previous post, it also suggests my own personal literary ‘gold-standard’ - namely, Franz Kafka. Kafka is, of course, the pre-eminent author of absurd futility, repeatedly outlining a terrifying world seemingly dedicated to the frustration of any attempt at human happiness or coherent understanding. Does this ultimately refute the whole idea of an over-arching yearning for enlightenment? Well, yes - I guess, until one remembers Sartre’s insistence that all we can do is construct our own personal narratives of ‘meaning’ - not in order to ultimately explain or understand existence, but simply so that we might endure its fundamental indifference. Perhaps that’s where the only true wisdom lies: it certainly feels like what most artists are attempting.
[1.]: Peter Demetz, ‘Prague in Black and Gold’, London/NYC, Penguin, 1997
[2.]: Jean-Paul Sartre, 'Nausea', (Trans. Robert Baldick), London/NYC, Penguin, 1963 (1938).
[3.]: Jorge Luis Borges, 'On Exactitude in Science', in 'The Aleph' (Trans. Andrew Hurley, London/NYC, Penguin, 2000
[4.]: Marcel Proust, 'In Search of Lost Time' (In Seven Volumes), London/NYC, Penguin, 1913-27/2003
[5.]: Gilles Deleuze & Felix Guattari, 'Anti-Oedipus, Capitalism and Schizophrenia' (Trans. Robert Hurley, Mark Seem & Helen R. Lane), London, Bloomsbury, 1972/2021.
[6.]: Gilles Deleuze & Felix Guattari, 'A Thousand Plateaus', Capitalism and Schizophrenia', (Trans. Brian Massumi), London, Bloomsbury, 1987/2001.
[7.]: Amazingly, even as I was working on the ‘[dc]circuit’ suite, reports emerged from the Large Hadron Collider facility at CERN of the apparent, creation of infinitesimally small and fleeting traces of various elemental metal particals, including gold - as a by-product of certain particle-colliding experiments. Could it be that the old alchemists intuited something 'real' after all - and that they were simply waiting for the science and technological infrastructure to catch up?
[Composed using only organic intelligence.]
No comments:
Post a Comment