IMMATERIAL THOUGH LIGHT APPEARS TO BE, A WHOLE CONVINCING WORLD CAN BE CONSTRUCTED OF IT. AS THE ARTIST DOV BEN-DAVID SHOWS, EXCEPT FOR SKILL AND IMAGINATION, THIS WORLD CAN BE MADE WITH VERY LITTLE: SOME GLITTERING, LIGHT- REFLECTING SURFACES, SOME GELATINE LIGHT-FILTERS, SOME BLACK PAPER, A FEW PLEXIGLASS SHAPES – SPHERICAL, CUBICAL, PRISMATIC – AND A CAMERA. ALONE WITH THESE, HE CONSTRUCTED THE BOLD COLUMNS OF IMMACULATE TEMPLES, MULTICOLORED COLUMNAR CITIES, STRIPED FORCEFUL SPACES, AND, MORE ABSTRACTLY, VIBRATIONS AND COUNTER-VIBRATIONS. THE LIGHT THAT MAKES THEM UP IS ALL STRONGLY THREE-DIMENSIONAL.

IF THE GOD SHIVA COULD BE TRANSPOSED INTO THE LATE TWENTIETH CENTURY AND HIS IDIOM BECOME THAT OF REGULAR GEOMETRIC SHAPES, THIS IS A WORLD HE MIGHT CREATE. HERE WE GET THE EVIDENCE THAT A WORLD CAN BE THE PROJECTION OF CREATIVE ENERGY ON THE WALLS OF A PERCEIVING CONSCIOUSNESS.

BEN-AMI SCHARFSTEIN
Professor of Philosophy Tel-Aviv University.