In search of the spirit

Transcription

1 University of Iowa Iowa Research Online Theses and Dissertations Spring 2014 In search of the spirit Sarika Devi Sugla University of Iowa Copyright 2014 Sarika Devi Sugla This thesis is available at Iowa Research Online: Recommended Citation Sugla, Sarika Devi. "In search of the spirit." MFA (Master of Fine Arts) thesis, University of Iowa, Follow this and additional works at: Part of the Art Practice Commons

2 IN SEARCH OF THE SPIRIT by Sarika Devi Sugla A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Fine Arts degree in Art in the Graduate College of The University of Iowa May 2014 Thesis Supervisor: Professor Anita Jung

3 Copyright by SARIKA DEVI SUGLA 2014 All Rights Reserved

4 Graduate College The University of Iowa Iowa City, Iowa CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL MASTER S THESIS This is to certify that the Master s thesis of Sarika Devi Sugla has been approved by the Examining Committee for the thesis requirement for the Master of Fine Arts degree in Art at the May 2014 graduation. Thesis Committee: Anita Jung, Thesis Supervisor James Snitzer Robert Glasgow John Dilg

5 To my parents, family, and friends for their constant love and support. ii

6 The texts selected here seek to describe or analyse what takes hold of us when reason falters and certainties begin to crumble. They are about being taken to the limits. The sublime experience is fundamentally transformative, about the relationship between disorder and order, and the disruption of the stable coordinates of time and space. Something rushes in and we are profoundly altered. And so, in looking at the relevance of the concept to contemporary art, we are also addressing an experience with implications that go far beyond aesthetics. Simon Morley, The Sublime iii

7 ACKNOWLEGEMENTS My graduate studies and artistic development would not have been possible without the scholarship and community of my wonderful graduate peers. I would like to thank my thesis advisor Anita Jung, who generously provided her support, kindness, and advice throughout my years in Iowa and to my committee members James Snitzer, Bob Glasgow, and John Dilg for their constant insight and encouragement. To the wonderful staff at the University of Iowa Museum of Art, thank you for establishing my love for museum and curatorial studies. I would also like to thank Dean Dan Berkowitz and the Graduate College for their support during my years as an Iowa Arts Fellow. Last but not least, I would like to give a special thanks to Allison Rosh, Ross Mazzupappa, and Ryan Bentzinger. Without your help, kindness, and patience, this work would not have been possible. iv

8 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES...vi IN SEARCH OF THE SPIRIT... 1 Signs of the Water Spirit... 1 Water, Light, & Reflection... 1 The Role of Photography and Print... 2 Process... 2 Materiality... 3 Syntax of Language... 4 A Way of Seeing... 6 REFERENCES v

9 LIST OF FIGURES Figures 1. Greeting the Water Spirit. Water, LED light, The original Water Spirit, Date Unknown, Time N/A. Lithography, transfer, mica powder, and mixed media on glassine, 13.5 x 9 inches, st Mo(u)rning sign of the Water Spirit, May 22, 2012, 6:25 AM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on Masa paper, 13.5 x 9 inches, The Water Spirit shows itself i(n/m)printing, June 19, 2012, 4:33 PM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on vellum, 13.5 x 9 inches, Daily Re(mind)er of the Water Spirit, March 18, 2013, 5:42 AM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on bristol board, 13.5 x 9 inches, In light of the Water Spirit, April 23, 2013, 1:24 PM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on tracing paper, 13.5 x 9 inches, Pl(unders) of the Water Spirit, May 1, 2013, 12:30 AM. Lithography, transfer, mica powder, and mixed media on handmade paper, 13.5 x 9 inches, The Water Spirit k(ills) the butterflies, July 18, 2013, 2:31 PM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on Masa paper, 13.5 x 9 inches, The h(a)unting eyes of the Water Spirit, August 14, 2013, 9:49 PM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on Masa paper, 13.5 x 9 inches, The Water Spirit wa(sh/tch)es over me, September 13, 2013, 5:10 PM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on tracing paper, 13.5 x 9 inches, Final pass(ages) of the Water Spirit, September , 2:24 PM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on Masa paper, 13.5 x 9 inches, vi

10 12. The Water Spirit dis(places) fear, October 26, 2013, 7:07 PM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on vellum, 13.5 x 9 inches, The Water Spirit stands in support, November 24, 2013, 4:52 PM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on bristol board, 13.5 x 9 inches, In(side) thoughts of the Water Spirit, November 6, :31 PM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on Masa paper, 13.5 x 9 inches, Trans(formation) of the Water Spirit, December 10, 2013, 2:55 PM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on vellum 13.5 x 9 inches, The Water Spirit se(a)ts itself in winter, December 15, 2013, 11:10 PM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on glassine 13.5 x 9 inches, The foot(steps) of the Water Spirit, January 16, 2014, 11:50 AM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on bristol board 13.5 x 9 inches, Driving force of the Water Spirit, January 19, 2014, 2:56 AM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on vellum 13.5 x 9 inches, The Water Spirit reflects our journey, February 7, 2014, 8:28 PM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on masa paper 13.5 x 9 inches, Untitled (Reflection and Pause). Laser-etched glass on ledge 12 x 26 inches, Untitled (Reflection and Pause). Detail Water dancing to the tune of a solid. Laser-etched glass on ledges 36 x 24 inches, Stuck in the middle of these frozen Waters. Mixed media on canvas, 36 x 72 inches, And the casement slowly grew a shimmering square (Window to a Wonder). Screenprint and flocking on collaged digital print 30 x 22 inches, vii

11 25. Individual reflecting into Continuous Fragmentation. Detail view of floor mirror with water, In Search of the Spirit. Installation view I, Levitt Gallery, Art Building West, February 23-March 2, In Search of the Spirit. Installation view II, Levitt Gallery, Art Building West, February 23-March 2, viii

12 1 IN SEARCH OF THE SPIRIT This work documents a journey that uses water as a personal religion. Here, religion is understood as an individual s reaction [feelings, acts, and experiences] to life and how they stand in relation to what they believe is divine. 1 Signs of the Water Spirit The Water Spirit is any unexpected sign, appearance, or indication of the existence of water in our lives, whether it is the effect of water in an environment, a reflection of a water-like surface, or an object affected by water. The prints in this exhibition are concrete manifestations of these moments and infer that the Water Spirit is a singular being and an omnipresent entity that exists in various locations, times, and emotional states simultaneously. At times, witnessing these moments displace you from your reality; your emotions change, time pauses, your environment is suddenly abstracted. As a viewer, you can visually confront these moments, but they are elusive, usually transcending knowing or placing. This is the Water Spirit presenting itself and affecting you. Water, Light, & Reflection Light is an essential characteristic of spirituality and religion. In this body of work, many of these manifestations are only visible through and in the presence of light. These visual apparitions occur when light serendipitously meets a watery or reflective surface, allowing the Water Spirit to reveal itself from the shadows of the everyday. Looking at the various states and conditions of water as seen through light provides a unique perspective reflective of our capricious human nature in relation to 1 Lynn M. Herbert, Spirit and Light and the Immensity Within, in The Sublime, ed. Simon Morley (London: Whitechapel Gallery; Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2010), 97.

13 2 the inherently occurring elements of the world. As daily life becomes increasingly familiar, the spiritual qualities of light are slowly forgotten and taken for granted. It has fallen to the artist and other creatives to preserve the contemplative qualities of light. 2 The Role of Photography and Print In this work, photography is used as a means of documentation and print as a method for the interpretative nature of memory and image. Process The moments in which the Water Spirit appears can be sudden and fleeting. There is often a precariousness to the momentary relations that allow these spirits to be seen that require immediate recording before those forces collapse or fall away. Photography, which relies on light to create a register of its subjects, becomes the most immediate and appropriate means of collecting and remembering these moments, essentially drawing up an inventory of objects in the visible world. 3 Although the Spirit itself is not visible, the ability to feel and see the effects of its presence rests within you; it is not a general or universal documentable fact. Whether through digital technologies, cell phones, or film cameras, documentation of the Water Spirit becomes about using the technology at hand to mark that point in time, giving these brief visual encounters a sense of materiality and actuality. After the original documentation, print media allows for the photograph to transform into an experiential object and relic. In each work, the photograph is manipulated and printed in various layers, both animating and highlighting the action and feeling of the Water Spirit, as felt in real-time. The limited color palette, saturation, and mica powder give the work a unique aura and describe a way of 2 Ibid., Jorge Calado, Waterproof: Water in Photography Since 1852 (New York, Edition Stemmle, 1998), 27.

14 3 seeing and filtering the world around us. The finished print has a luminous quality, reflective of my firsthand experience of witnessing each manifestation of the Water Spirit. We all go about our everyday lives with a personal vision, and in the hand printing of these photographs, I am able to express mine. Through the use of photography and printmaking, these works act as experiential relics, interpretations of personal vision, documents of a passage in time, and an analysis of natural phenomena. Materiality Although it is important to see these signs collectively (Figures 2-19), it is also necessary to see them for the individual moments that they are. In order to see each apparition as its own unique event, varying the material substrate of each work is important. By using a variety of papers, including vellum, glassine, tracing paper, bristol board, and handmade cotton paper, each work has its own identity amidst the collection of manifestations. In addition, the effects of water used in the lithographic process are evident on the works printed on glassine and tracing paper, showing the unique residual affects these visual experiences or encounters with water can have. Unlike any other substance, water is one of the few elements we see in liquid, gas, and solid states. Whether we are always aware of it, witnessing water metamorphose can subconsciously influence our behavior and thoughts. 4 Stuck in the middle of these frozen waters (Figure 23) depicts varying emotions and vulnerabilities as a metaphor for the changing states of water. The fluidity of the mediums and the gestural marks allude to water s ability to transform quickly, while retaining the memory of what came before. The continual covering in white represents freezing and encapsulation, reminding us of some of water s specialties and common 4 Ibid., 20.

15 4 elemental associations. Through the material choices in this work, the visual, conceptual, and technical all rely on an experience of and with water. In the laser-etched panels (Figures 20-22), water takes the form of glass. Liquid glass has many similar characteristics to water, such as clarity, strength, encapsulation, and vulnerability. This common material is constantly used for its reflective and structural qualities in architecture. Although glass is stable and inherently strong when treated and used properly, it is also a very precarious and delicate material, prone and susceptible to human error and carelessness. Water shares both this strength and weakness, as we see in the rising strength and numbers of water-related natural disasters and man-made contamination issues. Lastly, the presence of the circular mirror in the exhibition (Figures 25-27) presents the viewer with the opportunity to reflect through water s presence. Looking down into the work, the viewer is unable to focus, as there are multiple constantly changing images and abstractions. The reflective qualities of water, as made evident in the company of light, are moments open to personal introspection and meditation. As Guglielmo Bargellesi-Severi writes, Mirrors reflect apparitions, thus enable identifications that uncover further unknown images, as do words in a poem. However, only the reflections charged with the notion of time are truly the most powerful and profound. When space is turned into time, and time becomes an esthetic principle, then we can enter it s alluring, enlivening reflections. 5 Syntax of language In the Water Spirit series, the playful use of language is inspired by word etymology and dictionary listings and is used to represent the fickle and vague nature of truths, memories, and emotions. 5 Guglielmo Bargellesi Severi, Notes, in Robert Smithson Slideworks, ed. Guglielmo Bargellesi Severi (Milano: C Frua, 1997), 167.

16 5 The inclusion of text allows for the layering of various levels of personal information; it is the method for describing the individual characteristics, thoughts, and feelings of an encounter with the spirit. Our memories often change as time passes, and this causes us to remember a singular event in many ways. To express this, the abstraction of words allows the titles to be read with different meanings, signifying the changing mental and emotional states that occur internally. In addition to the personal emotions expressed in the titles, each print fulfills and answers some part of the definition of the words water, spirit, and light. The formatting of the text along the bottom of each work is a formal language existing between a journal entry, report, and diary, aiming to account for the personal nature of mental states at a particular day and time. This pseudodidactic information helps place these abstract moments in perspective, seeing it as a unique part to a much larger dialogue. Water, with its constant motion and changing states, is an ideal symbol of time, change, and continuity. Leonardo Da Vinci said, In rivers, the water that you touch is the last of what has passed and the first of that which comes: so with time present. 6 In effort to try and comprehend this continuous fragmentation, these works record the information that prove and remind us that there are many moments of timelessness. Timelessness, or a sense of just being present, can only be found in lapsed moments of perception, in the common pause that breaks apart into a sandstorm of pauses. 7 In addition, these textual elements provide the work with a stamp of authenticity; it expresses that you are the agency and voice of reason. Just as 6 Stefan Klein, Leonardo s Legacy: How Da Vinci Reimagined the World, trans. Shelley Frisch (Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2010), Smithson, Robert Smithson Slideworks, 142.

17 6 collectors, curators, and other authoritative figures have the power to decide what is important, each of us has that same control. A Way of Seeing This work becomes a pragmatic system of knowing, using the constantly changing states of water as a lens through which to view everyday experiences as transcendent. The printed pieces are about nearness and collecting your own alliance and material, regardless of religion. It is a way of peeking into the sublime and understanding the poignancy of life. Everything is ephemeral, and everybody is searching. By using water as a vehicle, In Search of the Spirit reveals a way of finding continuity amidst the quickly changing pace and nature of our lives. The Water Spirit is always there; you just have to choose to see it.

18 Figure 1. Greeting the Water Spirit. Water, LED light,

19 Figure 2. The original Water Spirit, Date Unknown, Time N/A. Lithography, transfer, mica powder, and mixed media on glassine, 13.5 x 9 inches,

20 Figure 3. 1 st Mo(u)rning sign of the Water Spirit, May 22, 2012, 6:25 AM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on Masa paper, 13.5 x 9 inches,

21 Figure 4. The Water Spirit shows itself i(n/m)printing, June 19, 2012, 4:33 PM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on vellum, 13.5 x 9 inches,

22 Figure 5. Daily Re(mind)er of the Water Spirit, March 18, 2013, 5:42 AM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on bristol board, 13.5 x 9 inches,

23 Figure 6. In light of the Water Spirit, April 23, 2013, 1:24 PM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on tracing paper, 13.5 x 9 inches,

24 Figure 7. Pl(unders) of the Water Spirit, May 1, 2013, 12:30 AM. Lithography, transfer, mica powder, and mixed media on handmade paper, 13.5 x 9 inches,

25 Figure 8. The Water Spirit k(ills) the butterflies, July 18, 2013, 2:31 PM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on Masa paper, 13.5 x 9 inches,

26 Figure 9. The h(a)unting eyes of the Water Spirit, August 14, 2013, 9:49 PM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on Masa paper, 13.5 x 9 inches,

27 Figure 10. The Water Spirit wa(sh/tch)es over me, September 13, 2013, 5:10 PM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on tracing paper, 13.5 x 9 inches,

28 Figure 11. Final pass(ages) of the Water Spirit, September , 2:24 PM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on Masa paper, 13.5 x 9 inches,

29 Figure 12. The Water Spirit dis(places) fear, October 26, 2013, 7:07 PM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on vellum, 13.5 x 9 inches,

30 Figure 13. The Water Spirit stands in support, November 24, 2013, 4:52 PM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on bristol board, 13.5 x 9 inches,

31 Figure 14. In(side) thoughts of the Water Spirit, November 6, :31 PM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on Masa paper, 13.5 x 9 inches,

32 Figure 15. Trans(formation) of the Water Spirit, December 10, 2013, 2:55 PM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on vellum, 13.5 x 9 inches,

33 Figure 16. The Water Spirit se(a)ts itself in winter, December 15, 2013, 11:10 PM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on glassine, 13.5 x 9 inches,

34 Figure 17. The foot(steps) of the Water Spirit, January 16, 2014, 11:50 AM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on bristol board, 13.5 x 9 inches,

35 Figure 18. Driving force of the Water Spirit, January 19, 2014, 2:56 AM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on vellum, 13.5 x 9 inches,

36 Figure 19. The Water Spirit reflects our journey, February 7, 2014, 8:28 PM. Lithography, transfer, and mixed media on Masa paper, 13.5 x 9 inches,

37 26 Figure 20. Untitled (Reflection and Pause). Laser-etched glass on ledge, 12 x 26 inches, Figure 21. Untitled (Reflection and Pause). Detail.

38 27 Figure 22. Water dancing to the tune of a solid. Laser-etched glass on ledges, 36 x 24 inches, Figure 23. Stuck in the middle of these frozen Waters. Mixed media on canvas, 36 x 72 inches, 2014.

39 Figure 24. And the casement slowly grew a shimmering square (Window to a Wonder). Screenprint and flocking on collaged digital print, 30 x 22 inches,

40 Figure 25. Individual reflecting into Continuous Fragmentation. Detail view of floor mirror with water,

41 30 Figure 26. In Search of the Spirit. Installation view I, Levitt Gallery, Art Building West, February 23-March 2, Figure 27. In Search of the Spirit. Installation view II, Levitt Gallery, Art Building West, February 23-March 2, 2014.

42 31 REFERENCES Bargellesi Severi, Guglielmo. Notes. In Robert Smithson Slideworks, edited by Guglielmo Bargellesi Severi, 167. Milano: C Frua, Calado, Jorge. Waterproof: Water in Photography Since New York: Edition Stemmle, Herbert, Lynn M. Spirit and Light and the Immensity Within. In The Sublime, edited by Simon Morley, London: Whitechapel Gallery; Cambridge: MIT Press, Klein, Stefan. Leonardo s Legacy: How Da Vinci Reimagined the World. Translated by Shelley Frisch. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, Morgan, David. Secret Wisdom and Self-Effacement: The Spiritual in the Modern Age. In Negotiating Rapture: The Power of Art to Transform Lives, edited by Richard Francis, Chicago: Museum of Contemporary Art, Morley, Simon. Introduction: The Contemporary Sublime. In The Sublime, edited by Simon Morley, London: Whitechapel Gallery; Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, Smithson, Robert. Robert Smithson Slideworks, edited by Guglielmo Bargellesi Severi. Milano: C. Frua, 1997.