Angelophany is a kinetic metal sculpture that i worked on in 2023-2024 as part of my graduation thesis at the Royal College of Art! Angelophany, which means the corporeal manifestation or appearance of an angel before a human being was my main field of research during my masters degree contact with the divine is disruptive, terrifying, and pushes you to the limits of thought and experience. it is through utilizing this annihilative property that i theorize true autonomy of the self can be reached for a brief moment, even if a complete transgression of your boundaries occurs. french philosopher Georges Bataille wrote on contact with the divine, and how the aftermath of it is a complete destruction and then a subsequent reconstruction of the human on the receiving end. he dubbed these experiences as ‘limit experiences’ i view the figure and image of the angel as the ultimate reminder of hierarchy and the lack of autonomy, and i chose to recreate it through mundane means. by reframing an Angelophany where the recipient is the agent of control that chooses wether or not to receive the angel’s prophecies and revelations, the power and control dynamics are completely disrupted. the divine becomes mechanized, and therefore mundane. the main interaction is through holding the angel’s hand, which in turn produces prophecies of people who mostly don’t exist, as well as revelations (these being snippets of my research). continuing to hold the hand will result in the angel begging you to stop i made a synthesis of my research in the form of a video back in 2024, it’s in the description if you’re interested in any of this stuff! no ai was used in any part of this project :)
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