TRANSPARENT GARDEN / 2020

Installation, retroreflective glass beads, lamps

Fermat’s principle (optic geometry) states that “light travels between two points along the path that requires the least time, as compared to other nearby paths”. Following this principle, the light can be perceived as purposeful – it has to know a destination point before it can choose its direction.

The installation consists of professional lamps maintained on tripods pointed at areas covered with reflective glass beads, a material that retroreflected light and is commonly used for road marking. It is an important tool for traffic safety. As the slogan of one of the roads marking companies says, “Safety is visible”.

By spreading the glass beads on a floor I explore the new possibilities of drawing, referring to the Japanese tradition of the stone garden. filled with sand or pebbles whose main feature was evoking water in a dry landscape. Stones, which are arranged in a garden, hold a special place in Zen thought as expressions of natural forces, and one practice involves the contemplation of rocks as a way of becoming aware of that which is invisible.