Our Beloved and Sacred Sun
Ontological research to re-establish the Human - Sun relationship.
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We are longing to feel the sun.
Experience its amber light
gaze upon the sky and existence,
all that remains exciting and unknown,
but fills us with hope, tenderness, and affection.
gaze upon the sky and existence,
all that remains exciting and unknown,
but fills us with hope, tenderness, and affection.
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The project decodes the protocols embedded in the ancestral rituals of sun worship & sun art,
and translates them into the objects of the contemporary Solar Worship. In the current phase, through
a slow process of petrifying and crystallizing egg-yolk emulsions, the research materializes in a delicate living
biopolymer, carved into a Monolith, and engraved with superimposed solar motifs based on the data courtesy of
NASA and SDO (Solar Dynamics Observatory), mapping the intricate movements of the sun throughout one year.
Although resembling vulcanic stone, the material filters the expression of
natural light, and when touched by Sunlight, the Monolith illuminates with
ephemeral moments of amber glow - evoking the primal feelings ignited by our Sun.
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The research analyses solar worship as our attempts to display our dependence on the sun; to capture, to explain, to predict, to celebrate, โ the patterns of the sunโs movement, and the seasonal distribution of the solar energy throughout the ecological time.
Analyzing solar art and architecture through a context of the modern day, the Object depicts reinterpreted solar motifs - superimposed patterns of the Sun's movements;
An erupting pattern of a coronal solar flare, and; A 2D interpretation of the internal solar rotation - the differential rotation cycles within the sun itself, and The diagram of the sun Analemma - The movements of the sun in the sky throughout the whole year, incl. the markings for the solstices and equinoxes, making the monolith a solar calendar;.
ย An erupting pattern of a coronal solar flare, and; A 2D interpretation of the internal solar rotation - the differential rotation cycles within the sun itself, and The diagram of the sun Analemma - The movements of the sun in the sky throughout the whole year, incl. the markings for the solstices and equinoxes, making the monolith a solar calendar;.
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Perhaps one of the most universal and prevalent motifs connected and intricately intertwined with the sun is the concept of the Cosmic Egg - a mythological Golden Womb in the sky which is the source of all life, and which is apparent in the creation myths of many cultures, i.e. Babylonian, Ancient Egyptian, Orphic, and many others,
emphasizing the inherent recognition of the sunโs importance.
emphasizing the inherent recognition of the sunโs importance.
Reflecting upon the ancient sun worship, and considering egg-yolk as a closest physical manifestation of the sun, moving beyond just a philosophical frame of mind, - and using conscious design language in the context of the modern day, helps us imagine a poetic biomaterial based around egg-yolk, and materialize it in an object.
This process accomplishes it by slowly petrifying and crystallizing the material - combining egg-yolk emulsion with additional organic ingredients in a series of sequential heat treatments overย appropriate amount of time produces a biopolymer with unique light-filtering quality, - which brings out and intensify the expression of natural light.
This process accomplishes it by slowly petrifying and crystallizing the material - combining egg-yolk emulsion with additional organic ingredients in a series of sequential heat treatments overย appropriate amount of time produces a biopolymer with unique light-filtering quality, - which brings out and intensify the expression of natural light.
However choosing to use such precious resource as egg-yolk, a โliving materialโ which is โโproducedโโ by other alive beings, which need to be taken care of, and treated with respect, forces us to reconsider the value of resources, and their corresponsive impact; not only the passive influence on ourselves, but also on the environment around us - starting with sourcing eggs locally, ethically, and with due respect.
Consequently, using an alive ingredient and essentially killing it for our anthropocentric need of objects is contradictory.
To process such resource into an object requires us to not only be respectful of it and where it came from, but also consider the afterlife of the object.ย To further allude to our visceral and circular connections with the source of life, the material is designed to fully biodegrade, - fertilizing itโs final resting place, and returning the life to the earth.
To process such resource into an object requires us to not only be respectful of it and where it came from, but also consider the afterlife of the object.ย To further allude to our visceral and circular connections with the source of life, the material is designed to fully biodegrade, - fertilizing itโs final resting place, and returning the life to the earth.
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Sunlight Monolith
is the culmination of the research;
Living biomaterial carved into a monolithic form etched with intricate solar motifs,
assuming the role of an ancient/contemporary symbiotic Solar Altar,
and becoming a bio-mythological artifact of the Anthropocene.
Sunlight Monolith #01
photograph by Carlfried Verwaayen
Materials:
Egg-yolk & Starch Biopolymer
Dimensions:
1600 mm x 750 mm x 130 mm
Weight:
appx. 15 kg
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BA Thesis
Summer 2023