The works of Iven Orx and Aaron Vinn, brought together under the title SUPREME SPIRIT, represent an experimental approach. They draw on the concept of Marshall McLuhan, who famously said, “The medium is the message.” In this context, artists utilize glitter and its unique property for light reflections as the predominant medium for representing the mechanism of the transcendent.
Marshall McLuhan was a significant 20th-century media philosopher. His most well-known and influential statement is: “The medium is the message.” With this statement, McLuhan emphasized that the medium through which a message is conveyed is just as important as the content of the message itself. McLuhan argued that the way information is transmitted influences how we perceive, think, and understand the world. He stressed that each communication medium has its own unique structure, speed, and method of information transmission. These characteristics of the medium impact our perception, social relationships, and culture.
The SUPREME SPIRIT works are not limited to two dimensions but also feature a three-dimensional design to create a profound and dynamic experience for the viewer. The artists use a diverse mix of materials, including gold leaf, glitter, and light, to make their works shine and create an atmosphere of transcendence. These elements are also used in art history, such as gold leaf in Byzantine art to highlight sacred elements or the use of sparkling surfaces in contemporary art to create a playful and colorful aesthetic. Artists like Jeff Koons, Yayoi Kusama, Takashi Murakami, and Anselm Reyle share with Orx and Vinn the use of glittering surfaces and the integration of various media into their works. These artists create a visual opulence that transports the viewer to another world and prompts reflection on identity, spirituality, consumer culture, and the relationship between art and society.
Iven Orx and Aaron Vinn are dedicated to the metaphysical essence of art and the expansion of sensory perception with unwavering devotion. As a result, the peripheries of their artistic manifestations also gain significant relevance in their art historical discourse, being considered as coherent extensions. To transcend the inherent limitation, the artists resort, among other things, to the fascinating concept of light. Through the subtle integration of diffuse streams of light, their artworks gracefully glide into the immediate environment with ethereal beauty. At the same time, they strive to attribute increased visual and semantic significance to marginalized areas. They skillfully adorn these areas with gilded embellishments, causing them to radiate in a transcendent panorama and inscribing them in the final phase of the work.
“In an advanced stage of the creative process, an artwork tends towards its perfected state, and in this phase, the inherent essences begin to communicate with us.”
This poignant statement attests to the artists’ keen awareness that deeply felt emotions and reflected thoughts seep into their works and manifest themselves in symbolic signs and eloquent word structures. The precious essence of this transcendental experience is meticulously captured at the edges of their artworks. This remarkable phase of their creative journey is reminiscent of the captivating concept of ‘écriture automatique’ (automatic writing), a method where texts are recorded in an entranced state, unaffected by the critical introspection of the self-censor, thus assuming a gripping sound of invocations and hymnal melodies. Only upon intense, deepened contemplation of a finished work do these delicate, flowing lines on the artworks reveal themselves, gently evolving into skillfully woven word formations and distinctive characters, thereby bringing forth a new dimension of aesthetics.
Overall, the works of Iven Orx and Aaron Vinn in SUPREME SPIRIT create an invitation to establish a connection with one’s own spiritual nature and the transcendent dimension. The works generate a transformative experience, allowing one to immerse themselves in a state of contemplation and unity with the transcendent. They invite the viewer to explore their own spiritual nature and recognize the hidden reality beyond the material world.
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