The Lens Concertina Screen explores the illusionary nature of perception. How perception is created internally, a mental state within consciousness rather than matter being external to oneself. The Screen consists of 21 Cast and Firepolished glass concave lensed blocks, stacked on top of each other in a brushed stainless steel frame. The lenses are repeated throughout the panels, where the repetition becomes like a mantra, exploring the sensation of expansive space. This illusion of depth is created through the shape of the concertina allowing for one lens to be seen through another and then another. This lensing also affects the environment surrounding it, creating miniature worlds in each block.
I’m interested in the optical concave lens because it is used to focus light, to extend our visual perception, to see further and reduce an object to its smallest part. The hollowed inward lens, creates an upright virtual smaller image of the actual object it is focused on. I’m interested in these smaller virtual images which are created, as they shed light on the illusionary nature of seeing, of perception. The images in the concave lens are essentially a mirage.
The screen is made out of Kiln-formed glass and a stainless steel frame. Each panel is made out of 7 glass pieces with a concave lens in the centre and a flat textured surface surrounding the lens. The screen consists of 3-panels with each panel measuring W25 x H171.5 x D2.7cm. Drop in stainless steel pin hinges allow for the screen to be easily taken apart for transport.