Désillusion - On Earth as on Earth
2023
A screen of votive beeswax candles blocks the view of the icon corner. When the wax burn, what appears to your eyes? The work Désillusion shows the rupture of an ideological belief. What is behind the veils of the something sacred? The installation consists of a purpose-built corner in the middle of a room. The so called prayer corner was originally widespread among all Christians in ancient times. Over time, however, it has increasingly lost its function in the west but it remains widespread in Orthodox spirituality, in Greece and Russia in particular, where a space dedicated to sacred icons is always present. A screen made of votive beeswax candles blocks the view of the icon corner. There is one line of candles pointing upwards and one line pointing downwards. The wicks touch each other. When the wicks start to burn all the wax gradually melt to the ground revealing the mystery behind. This installation is accompanied by a video that shows the materiality of shadows. In the video the material of an object (candle) melts into its own shadow. It is a physical antithesis to the platonic allegory of the cave. Referring to Spinoza’s philosophy it depicts a reality that is complete in what it is. There is no such separation between the shadow and the object.
