We visited the ELMHURST ART MUSEUM on Saturday.  May not one purpose of a holiday, be the opportunity to step outside of ordinary time, to be with friends and family, and to seek experiences that widen one’s world, increase one’s capacity to wonder?  That is exactly what I wish for myself and for those closest to me at holiday time.

Four of us experienced exhibits by David Wallace Haskins who is a sculptor of light.

Sculptor of light.  That sounds strange, too strange.  However everything in day to day life is the result of wavelengths of light, colors reflected from the surface of objects, registered by the retina of our eye, and interpreted by our brain.  The keyboard before me, my hands attempting to type words, and the screen upon which letters are appearing, one by one to form words, are all the product of light.  Subtract the field effect of light, and it all vanishes.  The images, the awareness that I have of my immediate self, and my surroundings becomes unavailable to me.  The solidity of stuff is absent of definition without the help of light.  Light is life as we experience it.

Of the several exhibits which Haskins created, “Where We Meet” caused me to stand for some minutes fascinated in the darkened room by the depictions on the black screen before me of a singular individual, or of pairs, approaching at a walking pace from an initial noticeable small dot of light in the distance.  Gradually the figure becomes more defined, standing at last full-scale in front of me for perhaps a full minute.  I was impressed with the variety of individuals as to their facial details, manner of dress, and gender expression.  The quietly standing individual(s) then turns and walks into the distance exactly as they arrived.

Mind you all of this is a normal part of my life, –I am just too distracted to really notice, and to appreciate, to take delight in the spectrum of humanity, to feel the approach and the departure of those who come and go in my life

A bonus that came my way by chance at this exhibit occurred when I overheard a conversation between three individuals standing behind me.  One was the artist, David Wallace Haskins.  As you might expect I spoke with him.  He told me that his idea behind the exhibit was to show the transience, the temporality of life.

Another exhibit created by manipulation of light, involved myself and others standing in a room before a softly lit screen.  A tiny camera lens centered in the screen registered a video feed of myself and others in the room.  This sequence of images, was processed by a computer, and then projected from an overhead projector upon the screen.  The program by which the image was processed delayed the projection of the images.  So as I faced the screen I encountered several nearly full scale images of myself, in motion as I was just a few seconds in the past.  The effect was stunning.  I contemplated that many versions of the person that I now am are carried within, and constituted my present.  The exhibit is called Time Mirror III.

I’ll comment upon one more of Haskins works.  This one makes use of the McCormick house which is a part of the Elmhurst Art Museum.  Several rooms have mirrors mounted between the architectural members of the floor and the ceiling.  If you think about it you remember that opposing mirrors create an infinity of reflected image.  Light bounces mirror to mirror, the image appearing over and over growing smaller and  smaller as it regresses.  It was uncanny.  I felt suspended in space with nothing below or above but the architectural cross members……not unlike a cgi scene in a Starwars film.  The exhibit is called Ascension/Descension.  There is a polycarbonite LED pole mounted floor to ceiling in one room.  The pillar of light appears to extend into infinity below and above.  The photograph captures us holding on to the column of light as our images extend below/behind us, and before/ahead of us.  We hang on to the light.

I think that is a fair description of how it “really” is.  We are the present result of all of the generations and circumstances that have proceeded us.  The same can be said of the future. Everything matters, the person that I am and the acts for which I am responsible.  All of that composes the future.

We finished our outing to the Elmhurst Art Museum with a stop off at Elmhurst Brewing.  Some appetizers and a beer were a perfect finish to a memorable day.