The Glass Enlightenment is a site-specific temporary installation which occurred in the middle of a forest, specifically Sawmill Trail in Brick Township, New Jersey. With a basis in institutional criticism, the installation questions social constructs such as status and power or the relevancy of institutions. The glass specifically is laid upon the open forest to create direct symbolism to nature. Glass can be made to be as fragile as paper or as indestructible as a diamond. Nature has a resilience yet fragility which can be compared to glass, with renewal yet delicate eco-systems which rely on largely undisturbed environments.

 

Much like the universe, these forests belongs to no one. This forest is not just a piece of land which can be connotated to ‘ownership’, rather when we enter these forests, we become the guests of nature. The raw forest is a means of understanding reality outside of institutional constructs. We will find the texts written on the paper laid upon the floor state the following: 

 

“You have to search for enlightenment. Enlightenment is not found through filtered information or censorship”.

 

“Status and power are constructs. Without a title or degree, some would not even know what to do with themselves”.

 

“Enightenment is not popularity or marketability. Isolation clears all”.

 

“Glass is an enlightenment. An element which can be made as fragile as paper or indestructible as a diamond”.

 

The anti-institutional and anti-narrative aspects of the installation take place by creating documentation and communication to the self in the middle of an isolated forest. Essentially, treating the open raw forest on the same grounds as a formal gallery. The notion of treating nature as an open gallery is specifically communicated in how the installation is constructed. The various texts are fluxus writing criticisms of the contemporary digital era while the glass is a ritualistic practice meant to invoke the essence of nature, such as spirits…if they even do exist. But even without connotations of supernaturality or spirituality, the forest and nature is an entity of cleansing through oxygen and pristine environments untouched by the destructive hand of contemporary industrialization. 

 

In the photographic prints, these are unedited photographs of various scenes of nature or natural life, such as fish, the open beach during a smoke-storm from Canadian wildfires (with a separate glass installation set up in the photography), a couple prints of the very forest the current installation takes place in, and flying seagulls on the ocean shore during a severe windstorm. These various scenes of nature reveal the multi-faceted aspects of natural environment interpreted not only in documentary photography, but laid upon the open forest floor as a ritualistic ‘thank you’ for allowing me to document the most raw elements of Mother Earth. 

 

The Glass Enlightenment is essentially about inventing our own means of reality by connecting directly to nature through documentation, written communication, and using glass as ritualistic symbolism to give ‘offerings’ to the essence of the forest, whether spiritual or through cleansing qualities. This installation uses an assembled dialogue with nature to discover and search for enlightenment within the digital information age. By rejecting institutional structures and imposed narratives, the installation implores the viewer to discover how contemporary experimental art can lead to attaining enlightenment.