Ganzfelds, Śūnyatā and the Restless Eye

Captivating, entrancing and engaging, the tactile and visceral experiences of Anish Kapoor’s last exhibition at the RA, wonderfully explore and investigate self reflexive optical effects and immersive surfaces, tools that were perhaps once common place in Architectural lexicon. Upon entering the exhibit we are immediately confronted by one of Kapoor’s signature elliptical voids fabricated from an impressive weight of Coreten steel. The surrounding material around the vagina like opening fills our entire peripheral vision convincing us that it is a giant solid volume penetrated by a sensuous hole. As we begin to circumambulate the structure expecting it to occupy the entire room we realise the illusion created by filling our peripheral vision; the solid volume reveals itself as a thin facade and we see the solidity of the void. This is a great example of an architectural Ganzfeld effect.

The Ganzfeld, German for entire field, is more commonly associated with parapsychology experiments where test subjects experience homogeneous and un patterned sensory stimulation to produce effects similar to sensory deprivation. The lack of discernible sensory input is conducive to internal imagery is comparable to the technique of ‘Scrying’ (which appears in many traditions in various forms) where smooth, polished, translucent and reflective surfaces are used to facilitate visions believed to be from a God, Spirit or divine realm.
Kapoor’s sculptures echo and use this very tool of homogenous and un patterned sensory stimulation to produce art works that encourage states of ‘inwardness’ that feel somewhat surreal and other worldly or Spiritual.

His giant reflective blobs and mirrors certainly produce this effect and are some of the most engaging and entertaining pieces in the exhibit. Kapoor describes the effect of the highly polished reflective concave and convex surfaces as seeming to ‘reverse, affirm and negate’ the space and view. The objects have a threshold and a presence that one enters into and the slightest movement of you head and body, i.e. your perceptual position, creates a dynamic and fluid reflection that is totally absorbing.

But Kapor is not the first to use these optical techniques on such a scale. The ‘Architectural Ganzfeld’, has been around for millennia, and has often sought the most intensive craftsmanship and production techniques for its execution. The first that springs to mind is the hypnotic geometric patterns found in the fractal mosques of the middle east.

Here intricate Islamic geometry is used over such a large architectural scale that the individual detail and intense pattern is lost until close examination and an engulfing, homogenous surface that the eye can’t quite settle on is created. The shimmering fluctuating effect produces responses akin to the ‘inward projections’ of the Ganzfeld and it is clear to see why such an architectural tool would be used in a place of worship.

Kapoor’s work also combines other optical effects to create these giant immersive fields. One of his most refined techniques is the use of pure colour and pigment to create surfaces with immense spatial and expansive qualities. The perceived depth in the colour of Kapoor’s work reminds me of the depth of colour techniques employed by the Tibetan monks in their Shrine rooms.

Śūnyatā, in Mahayana traditions of Buddhism literally means ‘emptiness’ and refers to the insight that arises from realising the impermanent nature of all form. The concept of formlessness, impermanence and emptiness often manifests itself in the processes used to create Buddhist vernacular buildings. Woodwork panels, walls of shrine rooms as well as traditional Thangka paintings often go through a laborious process of colour application that is symbolic of Śūnyatā and has effects akin to pigment works of Kapoor. Bright colour, made from pigment collected from natural materials and stones is mixed with egg yolk and painstakingly applied on to surfaces in extremely thin layers. Often a complimentary colour such as green, is first applied to a surface that will eventually be red. The layers of colour are built up slowly, sometimes between 50 – 100 layers, and result in a colour so intense the eye can not rest on the surface and an incredible perceived depth occurs. In Thangka paintings Buddhas and deities appear to have shimmering auras, when used in the architectural scale - rooms appear to subtlety pulsate with colour and the walls seem less solid and more ephemeral.

Lubricants for the engine of architectural imagination

REAL architecture doesn’t always exist in real physical space. Sometimes the most profound architectural experiences are the internal and imagined ones. Some have argued that all architectural experience is internally created and that this process is continuously happening in every space we inhabit.

However the philosophical aspects of subjective spatial experience shall be left aside in this blog as I want to illustrate the more easy to recognise internal architectural experiences that are so incredibly important in opening the flood gates of inspiration that often leads us to creating beautiful built work in real physical space.

Such internal architectural experiences are often facilitated and aided by beautiful immersive drawings that lubricate the pistons of our imaginative faculties and help us inhabit, move around and feel a space that is not constrained by the physical laws and constraints that often govern our everyday. Shaun Tan’s surreal, wonderful and sensitive hand drawings from his children’s book ‘The Arrival’ do just this. The content is confusing and ambiguous but this is what makes them so enticing and interesting...our inquisitive imagination can’t help but begin to tick over ‘What are those giant owls...are they houses? ...Hills? Where is that tail going to?’ ...this is the beginning of the internal and imagined architectural experience...

Hallucinations of Jean-Jacques Lequeu

In Post revolutionary France a struggling young Architect called Jean-Jacques Lequeu created these drawings, a mad mix of Egyptian, Gothic, Classical and most of all Baroque (but with more grandiose sheep). Along with the Architecture he dabbled in portraits and pornography, but these marvelous visions, with their completely unconventional mix of the weird and the wonderful remind me of the light-heart follies of Fujimori or the wonderful illustrations of Shaun Tan, more on him later.

The Architectural Reverie of Terunobu Fujimori

I feel like an overexcited child when I see the beautiful, playful and dreamlike creations of Japanese Architect Terunobu Fujimori. His work, drawing from a vast basin of traditional ecological knowledge of indigenous Japanese building methods, interprets these sophisticated and ancient techniques into inventive, innocent and truly unique little gems of contemporary architecture. Featured here is a teaser showing a little of Fujimori’s unconventional techniques such as carved tree trunk models, charcoal wood cladding and brussel sprout window detailing as well as his original take on the green roof and Japanese tea house.

Mud, Glorious Mud

Ever spent fruitless months trying to source an eco-friendly sustainable wall tile that is naturally responsive to amibent room conditions, made by a happy orphan peasant collective in central Peru, has a proven track record of reliability over 10,000 years, comes in under the client's budget and provides a better range of beige than Dulux, well don't worry just use mud! It's cheap, readilly available and look what you can do with it. Shibam in Yemen, the once capitla of the kingdom of Hadramwat, is a wonderful example of the potential of what this modest material can achieve.

The Hermitic Architect

Many of us can perhaps sympathise with hermitic tendencies and yearn for an insular and quiet place for undisturbed absorption into a favourite past time. Here is one such place, beautiful in its humbleness and humility to its surroundings; the home of a Buddhist yogini, near the entrance to Paro Taksang in Bhutan.