Journey Into the Realm of Reason is a 36″x84″ painting in 2 parts that I made in 2009. I designed it on the computer first, taking into account the composition and the colors that I wanted to use; I was interested in creating a composition that used perspective as a design element. I went to the art store and found some cheap enamel paints. I picked out a wide variety of colors that I liked, including black. After I had my colors I used Photoshop, which I used for my original design, to fill in the spaces with the colors that I just bought. I made both sides different and made sure that the same color wasn’t used in an adjacent space. Although I designed the 2 sides differently, I realized later, after I was done painting it, that I had instead used an earlier mock up of the painting which used the same side twice, only in reverse. Most of it is still this way except for a few spaces that have been altered. I tried to use all of the colors equally and because they were cheap enamels, I had to paint most of the colors with 5 or 6 layers of paint to make it solid. The title comes from Superstudio who used this title back in 1967. Here is what I wrote about it a couple of years ago:
Journey Into the Realm of Reason takes its name from one of Superstudio’s theoretical concepts for architectural investigation. As a reductive tool for learning, this “Pigrim’s Progress” aims to expose and then remove the prevalent but unnecessary properties of architectural design, leaving a guide for a stripped yet necessary aesthetic.
I decided sometime this summer that this design would be great as a stained glass project. It would need to be around the same size though to account for the black lines that connect the glass pieces. It would be large and I have no room to store it. Maybe one day. The painting has been hanging above my couch ever since I painted it. It fits perfectly.
Brian Higbee 