10 May 2010
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the solaris project is on the cusp of completion, if that can be said before 2186.
the final reviews are imminent.
this is the text with which the images were accompanied;
nothing disappears completely
“darkness is not the mere absence of light; it has some positive quality... darkness is ‘thick’; it directly touches a person” roger caillois, 1935
do we need to see in order to feel darkness?
how much light do people need in order to live, and how much darkness? is it even possible to imagine things without light? can we see something without interacting with it?
what is light? is it an illusion?
visual field = light x space
the drawings presented here make up ’the solaris project;’ the basis of a study into enigmatic qualities of light, of things we can just see. this design is effectively of a large optical instrument, carved from the side of a mountain in columbia, south america. the parameters of the design respond to several associated sources; how humans perceive light; our eyes, our visual perception of the visual field; the physics of light, tarkovsky’s 1972 film solaris and a total solar eclipse.
the entrance responds to scotopia; our eyes adaptation to dim light, the buildings ‘windows’ act as ducts for light, tracing the path of the sun across the sky, beginning 08:57:30 on 16th july 2186. at the heart of the building there is a void, with one seat and one screen, on which the film solaris will be projected.
drawings: etching print and acetone transfer
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