Let There Be Light

In the installation/ kinetic sculpture "Let There Be Light", two Edison light bulbs appear breathing; As they inhale, the light bulbs' stomachs expand. With every exhale, their light dims.

 

“The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep… and God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” – Genesis 1:4

 

The week of creation, according to the Judeo-Christian tradition, started by bringing light into chaos and ended with the creation of Adam and Eve, the first breathing human beings.

Darkness encompasses the archetypal chaos, associated with death, destruction, captivity, and spiritual darkness.

All that threatens us lurks in the shadows.

Like their God, humans have always sought light to eliminate, scare away, and control those untamed dark possibilities.

Discovering, stilling, and creating light have defined human fate as the “ruler” of our planet.

 

In The Bulb – Life essence, light, is contained within a glass vessel.

It is protected, yet limited and fragile.

Breath is the first and last thing that humans experience. They encounter light coming out of the womb, and throughout their lives, they will always experience the cycle of day and night, light and darkness. As their physical/material light dims, they encounter a white light guiding their transition into the afterlife.

 

The bulbs, like us humans, hold that eternal enantiodromia of light and dark, life and death.