The Final Project 'Illumination'

After considering realistically about whether I was going to have enough time to create a book, and inscribe each page with a complicated theory I had to alter my idea again.

The Final & Most Successful Concept

Instead of focusing on all the conspiracies I decided to concentrate on one more precisely. The Illuminate has been an up and running secret society for the last century that always seems be growing in today's society. From the music industry to politics there always seems to be an uncanny amount of coincidences that point straight to this so called 'non-existent' group. The increasing amount of occult symbols with in music video clips have been staggering within the 21st century and can only be pointed to the one group.

I want my installation to focus this point directly, and inform people about the consequences of the lifestyle this group is portraying as desirable. From doing what they want, 'Do what thy Wilt' to aspiring to fame riches, they clam these are the only ingredients to true happiness.

Books were used, as they were a running concept from the start of the project. Symbolically they portray knowledge and wisdom and I still wanted to capture and represent this. I purposely chose to burn them to show the destruction and chaos this secret society can bring if you are not aware of them, especially through the use of media. The pyramid was a conscious decision too as it is the symbol of the 'All-Seeing-Eye' which is becoming a more common icon in day to day life, and seen on the American one dollar note. By placing a candle on top of the pyramid this portrays to the audience the illumination that these secret societies claim they possess. They believe they are the bearers of light and prosperity in this world, they also claim to have godlike qualities, possessing power over people and abundance of money and fame.

The placement of the installation is very critical as it carries added meaning and purpose to the piece. I chose the classroom table because it is known to be place where people learn and gain knowledge. This is what I want the audience to grasp, that my installation is a learning lesson where they should understand the truth about this group. By scattering unlit matches around the pyramid this gives the notion of opportunity among the people to be lit up with the truth. I made sure chairs were still around the table to portray that the installation is still a functional setting where people can sit, interact, think, and form an opinion on the concept.

Ekaterina Panikanova played an important part in formulating my art work. As an artist that uses books in a unique way, this encouraged me to do the same, experiment, edit and execute a concept that would best suit the chosen materials. Overall I believe my concept was very strong, and structural design was adequate in conveying what was intended too. I am very happy with the journey I went on to produce what I created. 

The Process

buring books:

 Building the base:

Final Work