Odyssey 2001
A collaboration
Ward Bos, painting
Rudie Berkhout, holography

February 28, 2001
Bank of America Technology Center
800 West Trade Street
Charlotte, NC

8'
x 20' x 1.25"
2,4m x 6m x 32mm
Odyssey 2001 is a triptych consisting of three painted panels and twelve reflection holograms. This work combines two art forms that transform the properties of light and space in distinctly different ways. Although Odyssey 2001 is essentially a two-dimensional work, the elements of painted and holographic illusion makes it appear to push through the wall and enter the space in all directions.
Using many smooth, thin layers of paint, layer upon layer is built up. The visual result can best be described as an underwater world with an occasional bubble. To create the feeling of infinite depth, no white was mixed in the paint. The white base-coat, underneath the transparent blue color layers, provides the light.
The holographic imagery is distilled from the nature of light itself, using reflection and refraction of laser light in glass. By recording several dimensional images on each plate, a multi-dimensional composition with complex spatial and visual harmonies is "materialized".
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