This project, Four Elements of the world,
was commissioned by Prof Brigid Heywood as a part of Public Undertanding of
Science Programme.
The theme was inspired by Aristotle’s
theory of four elements of the world.
Aristotle argued that the world consists of four elements: air, fire,
earth, and water.
Each glass panel represents one of the
four elements.
Aristotle, however, did not think that
the world was divided into four discrete parts. Rather, he thought the elements were
inseparably intertwined. He tried
to express this point by saying that each element shares part of its characters
with other adjacent elements. His
view gave me a powerful image of the dynamics of the world ‑ all things are
connected and influence one another.
I tried to capture this dynamics of the world in my
installation.
So, each stained-glass panel’s pattern
flows into the next panel. In fact,
these four panels are not four independent panels but one panel divided into
four parts. Pattern is flowing
through the panels. And, for me,
this flow of the pattern is a metaphor of time. So, the panels also represent different
time of the day and the four seasons as well.
I also tried to express this dynamics of
the world by the installation in the courtyard.
However, while I was generating the idea
for the project, I began to wonder why it has to be ‘four’ - rather than five or
ten, as in the case of classical Chinese chemistry.
I believe that this is because of the
influence of Pythagoras’s study of numbers, in which he argued that everything
is number. 4 signifies circulation
of everything. Thus, it is natural to argue that the world has four
inter-related elements.
Other numbers are also given
meaning by Pythagoras. For example,
3 signifies life itself. 2 is
women, and 1 is men. And 6 is the
perfect number, whose divisors add up exactly to the number itself. Pythagoras’s argument about number is
beautiful and attractive. So, I
decided to reflect some aspects of Pythagoras’ argument in this project as
well.
I hope that my work captures and expresses the beauty and the attraction of both Aristotle’s and Pythagoras’ argument, which have been the roots of what after many centuries came to be modern chemistry. I would be very glad indeed, if some students who have not studied chemistry were to be inspired to see the beauty and the magic of chemistry by seeing my work.