The nine billion name of … / light installation [2011-2013]
Language Matters was the theme / topic of a workshop at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, where I started my work. I created an interface that enabled the visualisation of large amount of information while dealing with art theoretical questions as well. My research concentrated on the definition of artistic practices and the associative process of the beholder.
The project, The Nine Billion Name of… , dealing with the denomination and
the limits of language– is shown on a LED wall display. It was
inspired by Arthur C. Clarke’s novel,: The
Nine Billion Name of God (1953).
The award-winning novel tells the story of
a Tibetan lamasery whose monks seek to list all of
the Names of God. They believe the Universe was created in order to note
all the names of God and once this naming is completed, God will bring the
Universe to an end. To replace the handwriting process, and make it more
quickly, they buy a super computer. While the essence of the story is
assembling all possible names of God, I conjoin all existing sensible words of
the dictionary with the term ’art’.
My
installation embodies the constant definition and research process. The
denomination of things and its verbalisation is a difficult task, especially in
the fields of art. By linking every word with art, like in the art historical
terminology of the XX.th century (minimal art, conceptual art), some kind of
concept rises during the reception of the beholder. By reading the linked
words, we involuntarily start to think about the possible definitions while the
constantly changing panel inclines our brain immediately to combine and look
for significance. At the same time, it refers to Wittgenstein’s
well-known statement: ’The limits of my language mean the limits of my world’.
Gallery Viltin, Budapest 2013:
Rietveld Academy Amsterdam 2011:
Gallery Viltin, Budapest 2013:
Rietveld Academy Amsterdam 2011: