“This kind of color, a lapse in pure whiteness, is an imperfection. Through it, you imagine the perfect "white" of light.”1
In Perlustrata no. 1, a translucent, snow-white textile configures a pleated line in a phenomenological intervention of geometric simplicity.
The line takes the form of a three-dimensional double curve within Blindside Gallery Two, which redefines its architectural space. The curves are spartan yet they delineate a union of polar opposites. This duality may create twin sensations for the viewer. Comparable to an isolated particle in quantum physics, this wave in space awaits real-time observation / an encounter. “Before that…it possesses merely a densité de presence.”2 What is certain is the conceptual strength of its apparent fragility can sensitise bodily awareness. Through the parallel experience of self-containment and interconnectivity, the intervention also conveys the flowing physicality of singular consciousness.
Perlustrata no. 1 is the first in a series of reductive objects having a poise, not unlike the stillness between two thoughts. It tangentially honours the 920th anniversary of the birth of Hildegard von Bingen, a visionary saint who always seemed to be perlustrata – shining with light.3
An imagined sense of tangible whitelight can happen via Perlustrata no. 1. Its medium, akin to a block of snow, has a refinement of whiteness and a layered, multi-cell structure that can absorb and contain luminosity. The surface’s visible fibre tendrils might translate as Dark Matter, “the mysterious substance that appears to give the universe its structure.”4
Louise Paramour set a precedent in art for her use of hand-crafted honey-comb paper as a large-scale collapsible / expandable material in Lustgarten (2000). Inspired by Paramour, Bergman explored similar ways of presenting free-standing work. Beginning with C (2009) at ParisCONCRET, she introduced an innovative, readymade modular element to her practice: textile softwall designed by molo.
One softwall makes this exhibition possible. With a unique history well beyond an initial fabrication of immaculate pleats and international transportation, it comes ‘pre-loved’ from being displayed / compressed / couriered during many interior design incarnations, prior to being loaned for such an unusual interval in Melbourne. Left behind, true to form, will be an imagination of linear whitelight.
In Perlustrata no. 1, a translucent, snow-white textile configures a pleated line in a phenomenological intervention of geometric simplicity. The line takes the form of a three-dimensional double curve within Blindside Gallery Two, which redefines its architectural space.
Amarie Bergman formulates and makes reductive art. Bergman’s artistic evolution was first documented in an interview on artSPACE; her works are featured in corporate and private collections.