Manifesting Heaven
Agam Rejwan & Joshua Lancman
The desire and need for redemption permeates every aspect of Judaism, which encourages personal religious development and devotion towards God. However, as our
chosen verse shows, the Messiah will only come once it is believed that he will come, and people will already have faith and reverence towards God. This demonstrates that redemption and achieving greatness is not something divinely bestowed, but is created through individual action. People have the power to do better for themselves, and attain redemption through their
own means.
In our design, a solitary tree with dead, hanging branches is lit up by pale orange-yellow
lights, symbolizing the meaningless chaos and decay that exists without God, and additionally mirroring B’Nai Yisrael’s time in the desert where they failed to follow God’s commandments and so were routinely punished. The tree represents Etz Haim, the tree of life, while the three branches symbolize what Shimon H’Tzadik believed the world stands on as said in the first chapter of Pirkei Avot: Torah, devotional service, and acts of loving kindness. When God is not
respected, and no one holds faith in Him, these attributes and ideas are not followed, and so sink solemnly towards the ground.Additionally, the tree and branches reflect the Gan Eden, where when God was not respected, the pure sanctity of nature decayed, as it is in the initial form of our design.
We decided to make the branches out of cut plywood so that they could be easily rotated around an axle at the top of the tree, as plywood is extremely light, and additionally so that the ideas which they represent could be easily inscribed into them. The tree was made out of paper mache on a cardboard tube base to make it more lifelike, and additionally so that it could easily
absorb colors from the shining neopixels. These types of lights were used so that they could cover most of the board’s surface without using too much electricity, and additionally so that the colors can change once the button is pressed. The surface was also covered with fabric to diffuse the light, and cast it across the entire surface.
However, when the button is pressed, the branches rise into the air, being pulled by servo motors, and the neopixels fade from a dry orange-yellow to a renewing green-blue,comparing the rejuvenation of spirit that comes with accepting God to the irrigation of a
waterless desert. Our text, written in invisible ink (to show how God’s teachings can not be
manifested when no action is taken to follow them), is lit up by ultra violet lights, showing how
while God’s truth may exist, it is impossible to understand it without proper devotional service.
This state of our design, which symbolizes the purity of redemption, is formed by the press of a button, which symbolizes how individual human action can attain redemption and rebirth. However, this state only exists when the button is continuously held. If released, the
lights change back to their original orange-yellow and the servo motors let the branches fall downward, representing how without continual devotion to a higher power, people will slip back into evil. Only if the button is always held and God always respected, will we attain redemption.
Video pitch
Hear from the artists themselves about the inner meaning of their art piece and their reflection on the creative process.
Assembled Artwork
Th Final art piece is a conglomeration of materials, colors, and computerized components.
COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN ELEMENTS
Students utilized industry standard 3D modeling software, Fusion 360, to model elements of their artwork. Fusion 360 is a cloud-based 3D modeling software platform for product design and manufacturing. Typically used to design and engineer products to ensure aesthetics, form, fit, and function.
COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN ELEMENTS
Take a sneak peak at the sophistication and attention to detail needed to 3D model and print design elements that are scaled to fit the board parameters.
The tree, which is the center of our design, is covered in paper-mache, a specific type of texture which can not be accurately reflected in our digital design. It is physically designed this way to make it appear more life-like, and additionally, the white color of the paper mache allows the tree to absorb different colored lights from the neopixels, becoming that color. This difference will make our design seem more realistic rather than fabricated, and so will better convey our
message. It will additionally be more aesthetically pleasing. The exact texture of the tree cannot
be reflected in our design; however, the tree will be represented by a hollow cylinder with a
wood color. Other small details, such as foliage and leaves, along with other small additions to
make the design look better, cannot be adequately represented in our model.
The base of our design will be covered in fabric, which we can not reflect in our digital design.
This fabric will diffuse light from the neopixels and additionally cover them, making the design
look better. Additionally, not being able to see the actual wooden base and having it be covered
by a pale fabric adds an element of surrealism to the design, demonstrating it as more metaphorical than realistic and prompting audience members to analyze the meaning of the piece rather than simply observe it.
Finally, small details like servo motor strings, invisible ink text, neopixels and uv lights are not
featured, as they are only technical details and will not be directly observed by the audience(except for the text, which, however, will be on the fabric).
To compensate for some of these missing elements, a rectangular prism, representing the servo motor, is placed inside the hollow cylinder, just as the real servo motor would, and the neopixels are represented by a long solid strip on the circumference of the base that is roughly their dimensions. As there is no way to change the color of a component in an animation, the
neopixels remain one color throughout, instead of changing from red to blue once the button is
pressed. Additionally, the text, instead of being in invisible ink and activated by UV lights, is a
series of holes in an extruded base that will (in animation) appear and disappear if the button is
pressed or released respectively. It is colored white, for the color of the proposed fabric.
These changes will make it so that our message impacts the audience less, as it is now less
understandable what each element in the design is intended to be. It is also far less lifelike and
more static, not reflecting the ideas of life and death we intend to convey in this piece.
And Rav Naḥman said to Rabbi Yitzḥak: What is the meaning of that which is written: “It is sacred in your midst, and I will not enter the city” (Hosea 11:9)? This verse is puzzling: Because it is sacred in your midst, will God not enter the city? Rabbi Yitzḥak said to Rav Naḥman that Rabbi Yoḥanan said the verse should be understood as follows: The Holy One, Blessed be He, said: I shall not enter Jerusalem above in heaven, until I enter Jerusalem on earth down below at the time of the redemption, when it will be sacred
in your midst. (Taanit 5a:11)
The meaning of the verse is that God will only send the Messiah in actuality after he/God’s teachings have already been accepted in the actual world. The Messiah will only come once all peoples are expecting and praying for it to come, and would find it sacred if it did come. This text shows an essential essence of all sacred time: that it is only sacred and will only become sacred if we believe it to be so and treat it with sanctity. The sacredness of time is dependent upon human action.
The message we are trying to convey is that it is dependent upon peoples’ acceptance of God on earth before the messiah comes that determines when the revelation occurs. You choose when you can attain redemption. For the past two thousand years, Jewish theology has heavily emphasized that it is the individual’s responsibility to connect with God. Without the direct communication of the second temple, people can now only follow the path of God through study, diligence, and personal connection with the higher power. This verse shows the same about sacred time, using the messiah as a metaphor for any important or holy events. This shows me that I have the direct power to improve my life and make it more sacred.
I could visualize this in the project as an example of something bad, but when a button is held, it transforms into something good. Furthermore, the text shows that the decisions one makes can change their entire cycle of life. Like the yin and yang, one can go into anything with a positive or negative mindset yet it can change their ideology, with different choices one undergoes different outcomes.
We want people to experience changing the condition of the world from bad to good through the acceptance of God, which we will convey through holding a button. We also want people to understand that they have to continuously hold the button for a long period of time before the piece can change from bad to good. The shift
will be indicated by moving parts changing the actual design from negative to positive, led colors changing from chaotic and multicolored to pure white.