There is a new direction in art, powerful in its complexity and extreme in its vision. It is nothing less than the quest for life itself. This journey towards a greater art will bring forth a new interaction between art, science and technology. Life as The Holy Grail Of Art is more than a hopeful prophecy and humble in its first step.
The goal of this paper is to demonstrate that the creative process can, in the course of time, lead to the fabrication of a living work of art. This life form will be of human design and need not follow the path or laws of nature. This first step in the quest for life unifies the visual elements of art, chemistry and electromagnetic continuum: elements, compounds, energy and visual information, thus, become the building blocks of life.
In a system such as this, chemistry replaces the pigment; and a glass plate, the canvas. The Visual elements of art, as chemical information, are painted upon the glass plate in multiple layers. The overlapping chemistry sets up the potential for interactions between the various elements and compounds. The intent behind these chemical interactions is to affect change and transformation within the visual elements of the painting. Other factors which contribute to this change and transformation potential lie within the electromagnetic continuum. Electricity, magnetic fields, light and temperature are the energy and control systems within the complex work of art. The visual chemical structure, energy-control system, change and transformation then become the elements of life.
The chemical structure is the foundation of the living work of art, fabricated in multiple layers of extreme complexity. Its architecture of lines, shapes, colors, values and texture are chemicals suspended in a base of corn syrup. The chemistry becomes the pigment and the corn syrup the medium. The viscous nature of the corn syrup and its crystal-clear transparency makes it a perfect medium for painting. The list of pigments can include any product on the market, including: food, drugs, cosmetics, and industrial chemicals. The painting is executed one layer at a time and is allowed to dry before the next level is applied. Each layer of chemical imagery increases the number of possible points of interaction. This is demonstrated whereby the partial overlapping of two chemicals creates a new chemical intersection. This process can expand exponentially with an increase in the number of layers. It also demonstrates an increase in the finer detail of the visual-chemical information; as the number Of layers increase, the overall size of the intersection decreases. Each new layer partially dissolves the water-soluble medium below, thus, creating a new middle region. At some point, it becomes impossible to calculate the number of intersections and their middle regions. what further complicates the calculation is the painter's methodology - a single brush stroke can have a wide range of densities. The extreme complexity of the chemical structure sets up the full potential for change and transformation Of the work of art. This can be taken to even higher levels of complexity by introducing the energies of the electromagnetic continuum.
Some frequencies of the electromagnetic continuum are unavailable. Temperature and light for example, even in a controlled environment, have some impact upon the works of art. In the quest for life, the electromagnetic continuum becomes the energy and control system within the work of art. Heat and ultraviolet light, the once-dreaded energies of art, can now be utilized for their catalytic potential. Electricity can also be used as a catalyst by feeding an electric current through the conductive medium of the painting; which, in turn, can feed a magnetic field within and/or subsurface to the painting. This can be achieved by placing a series of electrodes at the top and the bottom of the painting. The bottom lead is connected to the positive line of the power supply; the current runs through the painting and exits at the top, and continues on to the input of an electromagnet; the circuit is completed by connecting the magnet's output to the minus line of the power supply.
Electromagnets can be purchased or hand-made. They can be made to the same dimensions of a painting. Multiple layers of lacquered copper wire are wound around an iron plate. Its extended leads are connected to the painting's circuit as described above.
The energy-control system thus completes the blueprint for the living work of art. This first modest step towards the creation of life must be constructed in an architecture of permanence. Only the visual elements of art and the chemical structure will be dynamic in change and transformation. The supporting structure will be archival and withstand the test of time.
The architecture for the work of art is a multi-layered construction, with interconnected units of art, chemistry and the electro-magnetic continuum. The painting is locked in between two plates of glass and a water-proof seal. This seal is a mixture of polyurethane and plaster of Paris. The sealant is applied to the outer edge of the glass structure. Electrodes are inserted into the painting and the external lines are connected to the power jack. The painting and wire configuration are locked into an aluminum frame with a U-shaped seal of plaster of Paris. This self-contained structure can expand in a minimum or maximum configuration with the electromagnetic continuum.
In the minimum mode, the electromagnet is mounted on the wall just below the painting and the electric current is supplied by an external DC power supply. In this configuration, the external light and temperature would interact with the painting.
In the maximum mode, the energy control system would be mounted subsurface to the painting and would be encased within a three-dimensional structure. The light and heat output in this configuration would have a greater impact upon the chemical painting.
The temperature generated by the light is both a catalyst and a control valve for the transmission of electric current through the painting. Heat, in this case, increases the conductivity of the painting and, in turn, increases the flow of current through the media; which, in turn, controls the strength of the magnetic field. In this system, light unifies the energy control system into a single catalyst for change and transformation of the painting. The rate and degree to which the painting changes is in direct proportion to the complexity of the chemical structure and its interaction with the energy control system.
The change and transformation in the visual elements of the
painting are the first steps in the quest for life in art. The
artist sets the initial conditions. what happens beyond this point
is difficult to predict. The life span of the work could range
from months to decades. It will be the responsibility of the art
and the scientiflc communities to study and document the image's
transformation. Their incentive to do so lies in the guarantee
that the documentation would be viewed as part of the work of
art.
Thepainting as a transparent plate can be contact-printed on light-sensitive
paper. The painting itself can be viewed as the Mother Plate;
the prints, her descendants. The offspring are both works of art
and documentation of the Mother's transformation. At some point,
the chemical change and transformation will run its course and
the "life" will expire. This final state will be viewed
as a relic of the initial condition and, thus, achieve the status
of a non-living work. of art.
As the complexity of the living work of art increases, we will find ourselves at the threshold found in nature: were life in its ever expanding quest for perfection, brings forth beauty of profound diversity.