A central, single filament lamp provides illumination. Surrounding the lamp are optically retractive panels that reflect, refract, diffract, distort and transform the projected image of the filament. An outer ring holds iconic images of theatrical performances from the archives of a theatre company in Vermont. Change and movement are created by air currents from a fan. Suspended panels move like sails on a ship, redirecting, focusing and dispersing the fan’s energy to produce an evocative dream.
Remember the last time you saw sunshine reflecting on water? The colors, motion, and sparkling patterns expanded the idea of what water can be. Your sight and imagination created new perceptions in your mind’s eye. This is the essence of how my work manipulates visual perception.
Vision is an inextricable, entwined process that involves all senses. It evolves continually to ensure we survive in a constantly changing environment. Whenever our eyes see, our vision system is actively seeking cues and clues that could impact us, at the speed of light. Our minds process these inputs through emotional and logical filters. Memory on multiple levels is accessed. Abstract models to achieve understanding are constructed.
All of the above take place at every moment of our lives. When we’re awake, we’re processing incoming images to stay alive in the physical world. When we dream, we create and project the images in our minds that visualize and realize our metaphysical experiences. The goal of my art is to allow the viewer to straddle the boundary between the physical world of what we see and the metaphysical universe of what we imagine.
Geo Stadnik, 2021
George Stadnik is a Queens-based light artist who has been an image creator and visual composer since 1968 when he first experienced the work of Thomas Wilfred at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC: Wilfred coined the term Lumia early in the 20th Century. Ghost Light Lumia was included in Light Windows 2021 at the Cell Theatre, 338 W. 23rd Street, NY NY. It was also installed at the Bennington Performing Arts Center from November 2020 through March 2021.
SPACE:LIGHT Alternate Reality
George Stadnik