our beloved and sacred sun
ongoing 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.
The project decodes protocols behind the ancestral rituals of solar worship & solar art, and
translates them into modern objects of sun worship. In the current phase, through a slow
process of petrifying and crystallizing egg-yolks, the research materializes in a delicate living
biomaterial, carved into a Monolith, and etched with superimposed solar motifs mapping
intricate movements of the sun throughout a year, - creating a ancient/contemporary altar.
When touched by sunlight, the monolith illuminates with amber glow, creating
ephemeral moments of light, - and reigniting the primal feelings evoked by our sun.
ephemeral moments of light, - and reigniting the primal feelings evoked by our sun.
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The graphic depicts superimposed series of reinterpreted patterns of the sun's movements;
The foreground motif shows a simplified 3 part display of the sun throughout the day; sunrise, midday sun, and sunset.
The primary motif shows the diagram of the sun analemma; - the movement of the sun in the sky throughout the whole year, incl. the markings for the solstices and equinoxes, making the monolith a solar calendar.
The third motif visualizes an erupting pattern of a coronal solar flare.
The background motif shows a 2d interpretation of the internal solar rotation - the differential rotation cycles within the sun itself.
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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 ancient recognition of the sun’s 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 over 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 over 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 ‘living material’ which is ‘’produced‘’ 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. To further allude to our visceral and circular connections with the source of life, the material is designed to fully biodegrade, - fertilizing it’s 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. To further allude to our visceral and circular connections with the source of life, the material is designed to fully biodegrade, - fertilizing it’s 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 altar to our Sun,
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
Project Press-Kit
Project Inquire
BA thesis
summer 2023