The artist has created his most intensive and mesmerizing series of works to date; entitled Sacred Space, the exhibition consists of a series of mandalas, a symbol from Hindu and Buddhist symbolism that represents metaphysical enlightenment, made entirely from meticulously arranged electronic components. Ulian's reflexive use of the geometrical mandala can also be seen as a nod to his 'past-life' as an technican, but through his application, Ulian divorces the electronic components from their origins, giving new life to these (now defunct) technological bits, creating a new type of hybridization that is equal parts spiritualization and contemporary critique: “We live in a society that worships electronic technology,” he states “both for necessity but also because it makes us feel better, not unlike its own new form of fashionable spirituality.” “The ocean is such a boundless source of inspiration for myself and many other people, in all fields. Unfortunately, I am also very concerned about the fragile state of it’s very complex eco-system. I wanted to bring to the surface, and illuminate the growing problem of plastic polluting our oceans in a way that makes people inspired to help. We have a floating island of plastic garbage in the Pacific that is twice the size of Texas. Up to 70 percent of this plastic is below the surface, broken down into tiny pieces,becoming a toxic part of the eco-system. Countless fish and birds die from mistaking these bits for food. This is an opportunity to look at how we might be contributing to the problem. Most people think it’s ok to use plastic bottles because they throw them in the recycle bin or think someone else will, but what they don’t realize is that much of the plastic that is manufactured never gets recycled. Many times when we think “eco” or “going green” we think of what’s on the surface, where we live…with this series I’d like to inspire people to look a little deeper.” |
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January 2015
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