Zen & The Art of The Extra Ordinary – 'Illumi Nation' (#6)

'Illumi Nation'

“By shining a light through the glass of our lives to we see our beautiful imperfections. For this is what differentiates us, is the mark of our character. Whilst acknowledging our unity, should we not celebrate our uniqueness? And illuminated people or nation is not afraid to throw a light on it's own character to see what is truly there, even if it is painful.”

• by Paul Heaney, from the collaborative book 'In Pain We Trust', Madrid Collection, November 2015.

Have you ever taken time to notice the reflections or shadows cast onto a wall, perhaps your own wall at home? I have a house with a large old Victorian window which faces the street. The street lights threw the shadows of tree branches through my window and cast them onto the plain wall. I like to keep the wall plain partly for this reason. It is a living canvass to Nature, and it also reveals in great detail and focus the interesting imperfections within the old glass of the window which otherwise you would not see.

The photograph was originally in colour but I chose to minimise the colour for a stronger image here. This is supposedly an ordinary image which perhaps many people might find on their walls at home. Yet the image to my mind is extra ordinary in it's revelations and in it's simple yet intricate beauty. Imperfections can be fascinating, revealing and even beautiful. I love this delicate pattern that combines the patterns of tree and glass, which in itself is a liquid, albeit very slow moving. Window glass sinks under gravity so the bottom is always thicker of time. So it is always a great shame I feel when people replace their old windows for that of plastic .. it is such a loss. However, I have managed to capture something of the occult here for posterity, even if some unthinking future occupier replaces this beautiful characterful Victorian glass.

All images and text copyright Paul Heaney © 2018