The Great Wizard of Oz

The Wizard of Oz came to mind when thinking about magic, illusion and electricity in relation to ether. I am not quite sure how exactly the Wizard of Oz will play a part within my project but I have a feeling it will help me solidify my thoughts and the overall form of the project...

Road Block(s)

The past week has been spent trying to figure out what ether is to me, why it interests me, why is confuses me and what role it plays in my life. What I have come to realize through my research is that ether is still very much an unknown. Both in science and mythology it has and continues to represent a void of knowledge and it is this void of knowledge that creates this interest, and confusion within me. There have been many analogies that I have made to ether in order for me to understand what it is. So far the most successful analogy is that of ether to electricity. Electricity has the ability to do almost anything, it is found in nature, it is generated by humans, it can be captured, it can and cannot be seen, it is there without traces of its presence, it is ether. The idea of ether as electricity has helped me progress with my project however I am now faced with the task of manifesting the concept of ether into physical form. Because ether has been used to describe and be so many different things, I feel that there is no one way to represent it. A previous idea I had was to create an installation that would speak to our senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste) but again how?Magic was another theme that I used to understand ether (and also electricity). Magic is also about the unknown and the awe that revolves around it. This idea will help me develop the theatrical component of this project and will also allow me to play with the sense of illusion. The question that still remains is the form that my project will take.

For the our last presentation I created a very ornate wall system that would react with the users of the space. The problem that arose with my proposal is that the form was representational and there is no awe evoking aspect. Also, the fan would not be used in an interesting manner.





other points of interest:

ether and anesthesia

Precedence - of natural form

This plant from the Philippines is called Makahiya, in english it translates to "shy." I though of this plant early on during my research but too quickly dismissed it. Perhaps this is not an exact demonstration of ether but I think it is interesting to see such a reaction from a mere plant. This idea of unexpected phenomena is what I would like to capture in my project.

The form and delicacy of the exposed copper wire was derived from the leaves of the makahiya. My past ether experiments dealt with charges turning a light on or off, currently I am experimenting with ways of making the overall action more dramatic without overpowering the poetic qualities of ether.

Videos for Portfolio

Please view previous blog entry before viewing.

FET


FET dark


Parallel


Parallel dark

Portfolio Pages

see "Parallel" video

see "FET" video

Discovering ether

Because I have outlined my focus of ether to revolve around the mystical definition I have allowed the word to be open for interpretation, as almost anything can be argued to be ether. Currently my goal has been to define the word for myself. To do so I have researched existing notions of ether.

What is Ether?

From my understanding of ether, it is a gas that can be used as a means of anesthetic. However it has been brought to my attention that there are other meanings associated with ether.
In order to gain a better understanding of ether I will begin my research with the investigation of the meaning of the word.

Using the Oxford English Dictionary, the following are definitions that seemed the most interesting and appropriate for this studio.

ether also aether:
1a. the clear sky
2a. a medium of unusual qualities (as extreme tenuity, absolute continuity, and a high rigidity and elasticity) postulated in the undulatory theory of light as permeating all space and as transmitting transverse waves.

From these definitions I started to understand that the word ether exists in two different realms, the mystical and the scientific. I will not concern myself with the chemical aspect of the word ether, rather I will focus on the unattainable ether and it's unknown. To understand this aspect of ether I will need to further research it's epistemology as well as topics relating to it.

epistemology:

In Greek mythology (A)ether was a protogenos that personified the "upper air." He was the air the the god of heaven breathed.

related topics:

- ether drift:
a relative motion held to exist between a body and the medium of ether

- etheralize:
a. to refine, exalt, or spiritualize

- etherophone:
theremin