When I the world consider
Artists: John M. Robertson, Justin Abbott
Materials: mixed media
Dimensions: 39" x 36" (including frame)
Date: 2014
The greatness of God is hidden yet surrounds us. It is sounded in the length and breadth of reality, hinted at as we scrutinize the afterglow of Creation and the subatomic dust of our formation . Yet His greatness cannot be contained by the bounds within which all things are contained, within which even our comprehension is contained. Thus is His greatness hidden. But hidden incompletely, as light leaks around a curtain or 'through a glass darkly.' And these slivers of light, these quanta of infinity are sometimes found. Then announced, marveled and praised, collected, cataloged, and framed. Hung in the gallery, then museum, then home. Discovery becomes decoration, collecting dust.
Additional information:
The title comes from the first line of the English translation of the Swedish hymn "O Store Gud" by Carl Boberg (1886). This was the Hymn that that inspired "How Great Thou Art" by Stuart K. Hine, copyrighted in 1949.
The image of a seated old woman is from the painting "Arrangement in Grey and Black No.1" by James McNeill Whistler, commonly referred to as "Whistler's Mother". Painted in 1871, it now hangs in the Musee d'Orsay in Paris, France.
The picture on the wall is an image of the cosmic microwave background radiation of the entire universe, basically the "afterglow of the Big Bang" or the "oldest light in the universe." Image credit: NASA/WMAP science team (2012)
The image on the curtain comes from one of the LHC experiments showing the recently discovered Higg's boson. Image credit: CERN (2013)
The fractal patterns burned in the wood are called Lichtenberg figures. These are the same patterns lightening traces through the sky and references the initial inspiration for the first stanza of "How Great Thou Art" - a thunderstorm in the Carpathian mountains.
Materials: mixed media
Dimensions: 39" x 36" (including frame)
Date: 2014
The greatness of God is hidden yet surrounds us. It is sounded in the length and breadth of reality, hinted at as we scrutinize the afterglow of Creation and the subatomic dust of our formation . Yet His greatness cannot be contained by the bounds within which all things are contained, within which even our comprehension is contained. Thus is His greatness hidden. But hidden incompletely, as light leaks around a curtain or 'through a glass darkly.' And these slivers of light, these quanta of infinity are sometimes found. Then announced, marveled and praised, collected, cataloged, and framed. Hung in the gallery, then museum, then home. Discovery becomes decoration, collecting dust.
Additional information:
The title comes from the first line of the English translation of the Swedish hymn "O Store Gud" by Carl Boberg (1886). This was the Hymn that that inspired "How Great Thou Art" by Stuart K. Hine, copyrighted in 1949.
The image of a seated old woman is from the painting "Arrangement in Grey and Black No.1" by James McNeill Whistler, commonly referred to as "Whistler's Mother". Painted in 1871, it now hangs in the Musee d'Orsay in Paris, France.
The picture on the wall is an image of the cosmic microwave background radiation of the entire universe, basically the "afterglow of the Big Bang" or the "oldest light in the universe." Image credit: NASA/WMAP science team (2012)
The image on the curtain comes from one of the LHC experiments showing the recently discovered Higg's boson. Image credit: CERN (2013)
The fractal patterns burned in the wood are called Lichtenberg figures. These are the same patterns lightening traces through the sky and references the initial inspiration for the first stanza of "How Great Thou Art" - a thunderstorm in the Carpathian mountains.