Prélude is the second video in Optogenesis (Étude Op. 3), a series of sculptural light installations. The title is inspired by the concept of Optogenetics, the emerging field of neuroscience concerning itself with the triggering of memory with light, and genesis, the coming into being from a point of origin.

 

In Prélude, light is projected onto an angular form, following an abstract narrative. Beginning with an initial beam of light, ( order; a central and clear point of origin), shifting into multiple beams in space ( disruption), transforming into an organic current ( direction; forming identity /movement), and resolving in shattering prisms ( dissolution; ecstatic form).

 

The sculptural piece on which the light is projected is formed from one flat rectangular plane. The folds of the plane function as its memory; its structure is formed by the direction and design of these impressions.

 

The form is revealed by illumination, taking on shifting visual characteristics depending its the point in the narrative. The interplay of material and immaterial creates distortions within the geometry of the piece, evoking a surprising dimensionality. The projected piece is a visual metaphor for memory an evolving and dynamic process, made up of many distortions.