Fragmented Peace
is a series of works entitled
YOUAREWHATYOUTHINK

based on the image of Buddha. New York-based artist Judi Harvest has undertaken a project of huge logistical proportions and significant historical and contemporary connotations. Buddha’s original name was Siddhartha, which means "one who had accomplished his aim." In this body of work Harvest does so and deserves to be commended.

The Project: Through an edition of multiples, paintings, and a monumental, steel and Murano glass sculpture, Harvest challenges the viewer in Fragmented Peace. A new body of work that takes inspiration from images of Buddha, the spiritual leader from the fifth and sixth centuries B.C. The project included the large sculpture installation, an edition of 50 Murano glass Buddhas, several paintings, and a working team including architect, graphic designer, structural engineer, translator, and documenters. The work is presented along with a documentary video.

Through Southeast Asia, stylistic representations of Buddha have formed over time. Judi Harvest has chosen a more modern looking "happy Buddha," with wide grin, large belly, and great vivacity. A mix of popular culture, cartoon, and caricature, this Buddha begs to have his tummy rubbed and brings a smile to one’s face.

The Large Sculpture: The large sculpture, destined for a Piazza in Venice to be on view during the Venice Biennale, is constructed of steel loops, welded together, to hold chunks of Murano glass. The center of the sculpture is left empty and illuminated from within. At once a familiar object in an adverse surrounding and scale, it is reminiscent of the inspiration Jeff Koons took in creating Puppy, the 35 foot tall wire cage formed as a dog and covered in live plants like a mammoth topiary, but with a whole different spiritual and artistic bent.

The use of the glass, both a local point of pride and identity in Venice, and as a translucent, reflective, material distinguishes this outsized Buddha. Perhaps Harvest was inspired by "the world is a burning house that is forever being destroyed and forever rebuilt," a quote from Buddha’s teachings. The colorful, glowing Buddha may represent the turmoil facing the world today. The use of the chunks of Murano glass, seemingly smooth and solid, actually multiply light and are quite sharp.

The empty interior may also be symbolic of the non-religious nature of this work compared to the spiritual vessel, which the sacred originals represent. "During the consecration ceremony of a Tibetan altar, monks ask the Buddha to inhabit the sculpture. Thereafter, the sculpture no longer symbolically represents the Buddha Sakyamuni, for Tibetan Buddhists believe that he now resides with the piece. Continual offerings, music, and prayer preserve the presence of the Buddha in the image."

In the large sculpture, Harvest leaves the center empty, perhaps signifying an emptiness she feels in the world around her today. This contrasts neatly with the limited edition sculptures, which are solid glass and maintained in their own boxes, disallowing the daily ritual of music and prayer to preserve the sanctified presence within the sacred object.

Harvest is interested in the tensions created between the age-old and enduring and the living and the fragile; the inner self and external realities.

The Multiples: Of particular interest are the 50 Buddhas that form an edition as part of this project. Each Buddha sculpture is made by hand, using the lost wax process in Murano. Although the general form is the same, no two are exactly alike. Each glass sculpture retains a coating of white powder from the production process, the amount of which varies from piece to piece. The powder, almost like pristine dust, Harvest says, "serves as a reminder that everything, including the mind, gathers dust and it is up to the individual to retain or remove it."

Repetition: Is it possible to separate images of Buddha from the religion he inspired? Harvest presents us with a unique situation. Taken out of their devout context, these sculptures and paintings become repetitive representations of a familiar image. Other artists who had done so include the pop artists, not least of which was Warhol with his Brillo boxes and Marilyn Monroes, for example. What was the point of those larger than life cans of Campbell’s Soup? To show us that what we take for granted can inspire; and cause us to question.

Presentation: Harvest has designed special cases for each Buddha, in either gray ultra suede or faux black crocodile. These boxes, reminiscent of the traveling altars used by missionaries in so many religions worldwide over time, enhance the spiritual nature of the Buddha sculptural theme. However, they also isolate each Buddha as they go forth alone to new homes of happy collectors. Their existence can be an open one or a closed one, based on each individual’s interest in imbuing each sculpture with its own artistic spirituality through care, love, and respect.

Buddha in Contemporary Art and Culture: Buddha as a figure appears again and again throughout the centuries and has been more recently depicted by such artists as Nam June Paik and Wim Delvoye either directly or indirectly. In each of these artists’ works, Buddha takes on a commentary of contemporary culture in conflict. In Nam June Paik’s Video Buddha (1976-1978) and Buddha Re-Incarnated (1994), he creates a metaphor for contemplation and he also questions the nature of the connection between the mind and objective reality, as influenced by a technologically ever changing world.

About the Artist and Her Art: Harvest is not calling for a Buddhist world. In her catalogue essay, she sights the need to create art, to understand interconnectedness, to emerge from recent events, such as 9/11 and the Iraq conflict, in a personal and public realm of peace. Very Buddhist, but not quite. For what Harvest really asserts is the need for creativity, the preserving of empty space to permit new ideas… it is a universal call for seeking out solutions in new ways. Fragmented Peace is truly a double entendre. Harvest, through choosing the Buddhist image, is forcing the viewer to look beyond the obvious accepted portrayal of the happy Buddha, to the underlying meaning in the work itself.

Previous works by Harvest have sought to create metaphors for real events in the world. Perhaps Fragmented Peace is a metaphor for joining together and promoting peace in our time. If Harvest has a Muse in her work, it is herself and the incredibly rich times in which she lives. Her work is not about tearing down society and its accomplishments, but rather looking to a hopeful future where creativity continues to flourish. If, as Carl Jung has said, "imagination and intuition are vital to our understanding," then Harvest is truly assuming the mantle of an enlightened artist.

Paul Sharpe
Paul Sharpe Contemporary Art
New York City, April 2003