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KEN DUNKLEY
Ken Dunkley's reputation as a
holographic artist has been assured by a single
hologram. Finished in 1973, Thoughts
remains a classic historic piece -- his only
known and, exhibited work. Objectively Dunkley
presents us with a sand-sculpted portrait with
sand-sculpted interference fringes issuing from
the head. In a curve stretching into the
background are holographic permutations
potentially leading to infinity, a
three-dimensional construction of the flow of our
thoughts. Dunkley suggests that an arbitrary
subset of life can represent the whole. Each
hologram within a hologram is a discrete level,
evolutionary in nature -- experientially we are
not always able to discern the process leading
from one to the next.
For Dunkley this piece is a
model for consciousness. Each stage in our
development, each change in our awareness
incorporates new-elements while yet encompassing
the previous levels. When asked what 1 + 1 is
equal to, one might give a variety of answers (2
or 444-442 or 14 etc.). Each response is
correct; they are all interchangeable and can be
reduced. to the same thing. Each represents a
change in our awareness, equal to the previous
one-yet somehow different. Beyond this, Dunkley
sees all forms of consciousness as an
interlocking network. Just as we depend on the
biochain physically, we are also interconnected
with the consciousnesses of other entities. We
cannot exist independently. Dunkley asks us to
make this philosophical leap with him into the
holographic space.
In Thoughts each
separate space exists inside another - - a
situation analogous to the perception of a shared
consciousness. Dunkley works only in laser
transmission holography, manipulating the
monochrome volume without reducing it to a
localized, flat, white light distillation. In
this way, he is free of many constraints and
compromises with the medium. It is easy to
intersect 180° of our vision with a
laser-viewable hologram. Such holograms literally
commandeer our attention ("coupling with our
minds" as Dunkley calls it). The challenge
comes in shaping that section of space with a vision
that has a distinct focus and the power to move
us to profound insights about the nature of our
existence. Dunkley envisions filling a room with
volumes of holograms. Each would relate to the
others and by encompassing the viewer would
totally subvert his-reality, replacing it with a
continuous holographic one. What then would be
the distinction between them?
Copyright April 1983... Marcia
Merryman-Means
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