THE RABBIT HOLE page — Deniz Kurtel

The
rabbit hole

New York
2008

Light Installation / Sculpture LEDs, transparent mirrors, aluminum, wood

Constructed through warped reflective surfaces, multi-layered transparent plexiglass encases strings of LED lights. Curved in a spiral structure, The Rabbit Hole is shaped in such a way to allow viewers to walk within it’s concave interior - to view the installation from the inside. The entire structure is suspended on two metal cylinders attached above the curved screens.

Experimenting with limits of rigid materials, and the effect of curved reflective surfaces, it is the geometry of curve space that plays an essential role in dislocating the viewer from an ordinary sense of perception. As light is simultaneously viewed through and reflected back upon the multi layered plexiglass, light beams are bent in multi-refractions at a pace the human brain can seldom fathom - referencing volume and depth, with reflective surfaces remaining two-dimensional -creating a delicately simple and silent, although mind-bending light show.

The Rabbit Hole probes the notion of true stillness in our experiences of all environments; inviting each viewer to either let go of or find a grasp of possible stillness within themselves.

Exhibited amongst a collective of the same name; The Rabbit Hole is an international collective of artists, storytellers and visionaries, founded in 2009, by Artist Samina Virani. The community has become widely known for its loyal following of 1400+ creative cultural influencers from 56 countries.

The intention of The Rabbit Hole exhibition aligned with the intention of this work: to seek to stimulate new ideas about self and the other, and to challenge culturally constructed limits and borders.

The Rabbit Hole light sculpture was later exhibited in The Marcy Hotel in April-May 2008.

Once viewed from the interior, The Rabbit Hole embodies psychedelic-like movement within a solitary, yet sculptural object. The points of light hovering in a violet black-ink darkness of the transparent mirror travel at different speeds as the viewpoint shifts, becoming webs of interconnected and twisting spirals - reminiscent of stars, revolving around multiple macro-galaxies.

For the human eye, having no fixed reference points of orientation or depth, infinite reflections of LED lights swirl, due to curved reflective surfaces. The mind is tricked into a feeling of falling, removing the connection to external environments, almost without connection to gravity.