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