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As an active participant and collaborator with the Milwaukee area JCC artist lab, Phillip Katz has created the graphic art piece ‘Wandering / Focus’. The piece is an expression of Phillip’s world travels, and how those travels affect his design inspirations.
The exhibit will be on display at the Milwaukee JCC from May 30th – June 20th and will feature artwork from fourteen artists.
Description:
ARTIST STATEMENT:
‘Sacred Spaces: Wandering/Focus 5772.1′
My work embodies over 20 years of research and projects in sacred spaces, specifically synagogue architecture. The star of David is a central symbol that has inspired my work. The challenge of a design problem always necessitates a solution that finds harmony between opposites opaqua and transparent, inside and outside, darkness and light. The architects job is a fine balance between artist and engineer or the ‘ethereal’ and the ‘pragmatic’.
The Star of David is two intersecting triangles pointing in opposing directions, in my interpretation the upward pointing triangle represents ‘heaven’ and the downward pointing triangle represents ‘earth’. The Star of David represents a union of opposite worlds, fulfilling one of the purposes of religion; bringing order, harmony, and meaning to an otherwise chaotic and homogenous environment. The meaning and symbolism of the Star of David is similar to the message of the yin-yang symbol, a union and synergy of opposites.
In order to know something one must have an understanding of its opposite. The concept of ‘Wandering’ can only be addressed by understanding the opposite of wandering. If wandering is defined as being; circuitous, deviating, indirect, or roundabout its opposite might be; settled, focused, consistent, or straightforward. ‘Light’ can only be understood in reference to ‘darkness’, ‘wandering’ can only be understood in reference to ‘focus’. The definition of sacred space is broad and can include both; the ‘physical’ such as architecture or space as well as the ‘ethereal’ such as time and events.
The intent of this project titled ‘Sacred Spaces: Wandering/Focus 5772.1′ is to portray both the ‘wanderings’ as well as the ’focus’ of my travels. Basically, the people, places, spaces, or times in our everyday life that create moments of transcendence or ‘sacred spaces’ in time are captured here. This piece is part of a series of wander maps this map depicts a one week period in Greece in the spring of 2012 (5772).
In the spring of 2012 I travelled to several cities in Greece on a Leadership Mission. The future for Greece; the birthplace of democracy, the epicenter of classic art and culture was very unclear at that moment and the country was in the midst of a complete economic meltdown, my visit coincided with the very week leading up to government elections. During this mission I visited sites of significant interest in both modern and ancient history, art, and culture as well as visits with political and communal leaders. It occurred to me that my traveling epitomized my sense of wandering being more meaningful only within the context of the ‘focus’ or pragmatics of the experience.
In the art piece ‘Wandering/Focus 5772.1′ the photograph and the technical data are assembled working in concert to create a matrix of form, proportion, memories, light, and other data. The resulting graphic serves as a chart or bar code of the ingredients that formed the experience. An experiential map is generated that reflects the ‘wandering’ and the ‘focus’ that reverberate to form a memory of the event.
Wandering is part of our everyday lives and it is a delight – for me to understand an, image, feeling, or location I must relate to it within some context, this brings focus to the experience. Wandering is part of what informs my work and gives it focus and meaning.
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