YOUREYESARELIES

My first project for my drawing course this term. Our prof wanted us to do a "mapping" of some sort.

I wanted to explore the ideas behind the fourth dimension, the boundaries of reality, and the blurring of knowledge and truth.

After doing extensive research on this thing called Wikipedia, I decided upon the image of a tesseract, which is a net of some sort. (Recall the days of elementary geometry, when your teachers would ask you to cut out polygonal nets to glue and assemble in various 3D forms -the cube, the cylindar, triangular prism etc)

The net for the 3D cube would be a "t" shape assembled from 2D squares. Hence, the net for a 4D "cube" would be a similar cross shape assembled from 3D cubes. If one were to venture into the Euclidean space and somehow fold and assemble this 3D net, one would get a fourth-dimensional "cube," so to speak.

I came upon the idea of the 4th dimension through one of the most phenomenal works by Duchamp, entitled A Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, or The Large Glass. Duchamp worked with invented machines that occupied a fourth-dimensional space, painting his images in ultra-thin layers of pigment on glass (which, because it is transparent, would be considered to have zero dimension.)

If it is possible for a three-dimensional object to have shadows composed of 2-dimensional planes, then it should be quite possible for a four-dimensional object to have shadows composed of three-dimensions. However, we cannot observe this fourth dimension, so we are living in a world of shadows (references to the Allegory of the Cave philosophy)

What we are seeing, then, is not true reality. Truth lies beyond our perception and comprehension.

I had to give that entire schpiel to my class during critique. I hope they understood what I was talking about, because it felt so surreal (due to my extreme sleep-deprivation to finish this piece)

Graphite on mylar, structure made from bamboo skewers and hot glue. Thread was also used.

I liked the idea of translucency and obscuring one's vision to create an image.

My father criticized the merde out of this when I brought it home. Yes it is quite unpolished and sketchy, and at places rather crude, but I like the tension of organic marks against such a rigid, angular form. I'm quite pleased with the result, given the allotted time I had to make it. (2 days)

Perhaps one in a series, if I have the heart and time to come back to it.