Shroud of Turin: Lamp
After much research into the shroud of Turin, there was no final explanation as to how the image of Christ was transferred onto the piece of cloth; yet the shroud is still worthy of veneration. Ray Downing and his research team hoped to 3-dimentionalize the image of Christ, which is essentially what I am trying to convey. As I found from my researcher, the shroud was carbon dated as being only 700 years old, however this cloth, containing photo negative information, would be far too advanced to be a medieval forgery. There was also no trace of pigment on the cloth when the microfibers were tested. The only explaination that was humoured was that Christ's body must have been glowing/radiating when he came back to life; this would have apparently caused a photo negative to transfer onto the cloth.
There was a wiped out form of Christianity that was touched upon in my research; the Nostics/Heritons. They believed that humans cannot see the world in its true 3 dimensions; they suggest that there is an invisible universe. This could correspond with the shroud as it appears to have a hidden 3rd dimension inside due to the distorted contours in the flat cloth; like a hologram? Perhaps the shroud is a metaphor for the universe as heaven is also a hidden universe.
Keeping this information in mind, I tried to think of a way in which I can create my own shroud of Turin that would be suggestive of an invisible dimension and a glowing radiation from his body. This led me to the fairly simple idea of using a lamp on which to map out a design. This would appear as if it were a normal lamp, until the light is turned on, to reveal a hidden image. I first painted the lamp in gold, in keeping with my ostentatious Catholic colours, and drew the outline of the shroud onto tracing paper; after placing this over the top I was able to puncture the design through using a needle. This process is quite fitting as it echoes the way in which Christ died; crucified with nails pierced through his hands and feet. This process was generally quite gruesome as I was puncturing the image of Christ. The end result was quite amazing. I hadn't anticipated that the lamp would glow a reddish colour, like the blood of Christ. The image of the shroud is definitely recognisable on the lamp, however it could have been a tad clearer. I chose to do a pointillism design instead of cutting out the shapes of the face. I think the pointillism gives makes the image appear as if is still in the process of being materialised, as if the face is emerging in front of our very eyes.
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