QUANTA (2021)

Immersive installation

Virtual reality

Class: Color Theory, Spring 2021

Artist Statement

Pre 2020, I probably would have identified as a scientific materialist. I believed matter was absolute, the Big Bang was the beginning of time and space, the world exists independent of humans, and praying to a God or gods was not reasonable. A spiritual awakening that has unfolded in quarantine has managed to change these four beliefs, but I still consider myself very loyal to science. How can this be? How can science and spirituality coexist? This is the question I have been fascinated by this semester, and what I touch on in this project.

I recently finished a book called The Physics of God in which the author uses quantum physics to rationalize religion, two types of belief systems that are popularly understood to exist on very opposite sides of the reality spectrum. In a nutshell, there are multiple proven phenomena in our universe (the intelligent observer effect, quantum entanglement, near death experiences, multiple personality disorder) that suggest our perception of our three dimensional universe of matter is a projection of another two dimensional universe of energy that is governed by separate physical laws. Our own human consciousnesses interact with this energy space, and humans act as holographic projectors, translating 2D to 3D. The description of the 2D energy space is very similar to various descriptions of the enlightened body — heaven, “the light”, nirvana, the holy spirit, and many other words for the state beyond typical human perception. Since this energy space is two-dimensional, it is eternal, as time is nonexistent in a non-physical dimension. Therefore, depending on how you define existence, “life” is not necessarily limited to matter and perception.

I think it’s so wonderfully confusing to try to conceptualize this all-permeating invisible energy field, how “size” ranges from tiny nanoparticles to multiple universes, and what “experience” might be like beyond perception. That’s why I chose to use VR as my medium for this project - fully experiencing, exploring, and understanding something is to be immersed in it. Plus, I did not believe paper or canvas would do justice to the combined power of the satisfaction of having scientific evidence of spirituality and of the beauty of the realization that humanity — perception — is so unique and fleeting.

The current scientific theory that supports spirituality is string theory, which is the idea that matter fundamentally isn’t made of particles — it is not matter at all, really — but rather vibrating quanta of energy called “strings” that turn into matter (particles) when we want them to. In my installation I explore how 2D (brush strokes — representing strings) can be arranged in 3D space to make bodies (matter), which when viewed from different angles form different bodies.

My main goal with my use of color is to disorient the viewer, further disconnecting them from reality, and to represent the non-physicality of energy. The colors of the strings are always changing depending on where you are in the installation. The background is a gradient of complementary colors, which allows strings of one color to appear different against different parts of the gradient due to color relativity. Moreover, optical mixing comes into play, as viewing angle and distance affect how close the strings are to each other, and their layering complicates the viewer’s perception of them. I also added colored lights and fog to the environment, so the strings become more truthful in color as the viewer gets closer to them. The intrinsic colors of the strings mostly jump between hues of blue and red, another set of complementary colors, which I associate with energy and temperature. All of these properties make the experience of the installation more intense when the viewer is surrounded by strings rather than empty space because depth and color — the fundamental qualities of perception — become less unified.