I was in the Auckland Art Galery and saw this artwork. A box of 3 x 3 x 2,5 meter you could – first take your shoes off – enter. I looked up and was amazed. I took the picture below. I have of course seen this effect of opposing mirrors before. But this was up. As if I was floating, alone, endless space, amazement.
When I got out I looked at the description. The artwork was named Environment III (1973) and there was a statement by the artist Luc Peire (1916-1994).
man lives
standing upright
and for me
the vertical
pointing up
or pointing down
is life
and has been
for years
the voice
the light
the shadow
of my work
as in it I have sought
for space
for space quite free
of limits or constraint
that I attain
the vertical infinite
the limitless
space
let whom accepts
my message
see what I have wrought
enter into it
environed by it
environed within it
may he be alone
inside it
withdrawn from all others
even from his world
from all
all by my world
and emptied of all
save himself
alone
without support
floating
in endless
for the endless
vertical
denotes endless space
let him
then
be himself
in the world of my creation
an elevation to some
a chasm in other eyes
but alone
in my environment
where nothing moves
which is neither game
nor transient spectacle
but silence
but contemplation
of either confrontation
by it
or communion
with the ever-rising
the luminous hollow
ascending
“the vertical … is life” and ” communion with the ever-rising”. Wow, this really reflects my experience. And it makes you think: how can something so concrete as the vertical ring religious bells?