Transcendence Engine 2021-a
Transcendence Engine 2021-a presents a larger-than life kaleidoscope, a passage reflecting the viewer and elements of the surrounding environment in an immersive, transcendent display. Ten duplicated and mirrored reflections dance at the end of the passage. The kaleidoscopic image shifts as one’s vantage point changes, other viewers pass in and out of the reflections, and LED lights modulate through specular patterns. The exterior also acts as a source of spectacle, reflecting the sky and the passage’s surrounding environment.
Transcendence Engine 2021-a measures 13.5 m long and 3.5 m tall. Viewers enter at one end and proceed down the tunnel toward a large mirrored and faceted triangular wall. This end wall is tiled with a geometric pattern of mirrors at varying angles, reflecting multiple elements of the interior and the surroundings, coupled with a slowly changing, multi-coloured light display. This faceted mirror tiling is duplicated on the outside of the end wall, creating a secondary opportunity for interactive spectacle.
LED lighting is incorporated throughout the structure — especially along the upper ridge line and along the bottom edges — providing additional illumination to the interior while contributing further visual elements to the reflective display.
A previous version of this work, Transcendence Engine 2019-a, was presented as part of the igNIGHT Festival in Fort McMurray, AB, 27 Sept - 6 Oct 2019. These pieces were inspired by Campbell’s background in mathematics, coupled with research into Islamic geometric patterning during a residency at the Banff Center in 2017. He also has a long-standing interest in creating large-scale works, dealing with various topics while presenting the audience with an immersive artistic experience.
blaine campbell
Blaine Campbell is an Alberta-based artist working in photography, sculpture, and video. Campbell’s thematic interests have included the inherent properties of the photograph and its relation to the viewer, landscape use and modification, processes of mediation and artifice in relation to transcendent experience, and parallels between Jacques Derrida’s “textuality” and quantum theory. A 2007 graduate of Emily Carr University with a BFA in photography, he previously obtained B.Math and M.Sc. degrees in mathematics. In 2015/16 Campbell completed an artist residency at the TRIUMF particle and nuclear physics lab at the University of British Columbia, and in 2017 he presented a large-scale work at the Art Gallery of Alberta.
INSTAGRAM: @bblaineccampbell
WEBSITE: www.blainecampbell.com
Reading List
Arabic Geometrical Pattern & Design, J. Bourgoin
The Fourth Dimension and Non-Euclidean Geometry in Modern Art, Linda Dalrymple-Henderson
Infinite Possibility: Mirror Works and Drawings 1974-2014, Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian
“Intra-actions”, Interview of Karen Barad by Adam Kleinmann, Mousse Magazine #34
“Mirrors,” Semiotics and the Philosophy of Language, Umberto Eco
Artist Talk In The Square
