One of the more interesting variants of the creation myth comes from India. In the Hindu religion, there is a school of thought that maintains that Vishnu, creator of all things, is sleeping and that we and the worlds, which we inhabit, are figments of his dream.

A corollary of this concept is to be found in the basic precept of all yoga practices, which is, "Thou art that." Another way to state this concept is, "You are that which you seek." By this it is meant that we are all a component of God (Vishnu) and it is up to the individual's conquest of illusion (samsara) to perceive our oneness with each other along with the world which we inhabit.

Further, this same school of thought also believes that once all of the names of God have been spoken aloud, Vishnu will awaken causing this world to end.

This story has percolated in my mind since adolescence. With global accessibility of the Internet and the close of the millennium, the timing seems correct for this project. I would like to invite everyone to send in any names that they may have for the concept of a supreme deity (God) by using the following link:

As the project progresses, all of the submitted names will be periodically downloaded, stored and converted to audible speech through a flame.

Additionally, all these words or all these names of God, will be available for downloading, or examination, once the web page is up, until April 21, 2010. At this date, if the world as we know it still exists, the site will cease to accept submissions and the experiment will end.

In the east, the path to knowledge has traditionally been through introspection. In the west, it has been through the scientific method and external achievement. Now at the nexus of ideology, technology, culture, and the millennia, there has come to exist a middle way. It is a way in which we may combine contemporary technology and age-old spiritual questions, which are at the core of our existence as a species to develop meaningful global communication.

Installation:

The sculptural installation consists of a computer-mediated environment whose focal point is that of a flame above a pool of water. The characteristics of the flame's plasma are modified so that it functions as a speaker. As the environment detects human presence, the flame will announce each of the submitted names until all words have been spoken.

In one way this is an opportunity to transcend traditional exhibition boundaries, recruit participants in a collaborative work, and to engender a greater sense of world community. In another way it is the test of a hypothesis.

Peter Terezakis
May 1993, NYC