Arturo Muela, Paola Ibarra + Daniela Gutiérrez

SECOND PRIZE WINNER

‘Colliding Universes in Saint Peter's Four Meter Woollen Eye’

This piece represents Étienne-Louis Boullée´s vision and megalomania. This enlarged geometric eye is an illustration of his desire for grandeur and power through design that would seem too complex or nearly impossible to put together, or in this case, be woven.

As Boullée´s Cenotaph for Isaac Newton, this eye is an ode to remembrance and delimitations. The different interpretations that can result from this piece allude as well to light - a notable characteristic in Boullée´s tribute to Newton -, and movement - distinctive in Jean Tinguely´s Kinetic Art -.

Colliding Universes: What could be considered just an eye, could also be seen as a thin line between past and present, or the separation of interior and exterior. Likewise, this eye could be considered as a vehicle for parallel universes to collide in the viewers’ minds, flourishing as new interpretations: a womb, an ocean, space, or an eclipse. This timeless design can also remind us of our past or tap into our future.

Saint Peter’s Eye: Aiming to recreate Saint Peter´s eye is as impossible as Boullée´s designs for his time. The displayed image of an  iris is provisional. In case of being selected as the winning design, an iris from a member of Mona´s community will be photographed to be interpreted in tapestry technique. The chosen member will be someone who represents leadership, as Saint Peter did in his time.

Four Metre: The eye is a geometric figure fuelled by cultural meanings that have turned it into a metaphysical object. Inspired by Boullée, we intend to amplify the eye by enlarging it 173 times its original size of 2.3 cm coinciding with the upper arch´s diameter in the hypothetical site. Therefore, scale becomes a megalomaniac stimulant that empowers our visions. 

Woollen Eye: The selection of an eye for this piece is the shared complexity between a human iris made out of millions of threads and the fifteenth-century tapestry technique undertaken by the Australian Tapestry Workshop (ATW).