ALCHEMY

11thC, 13thC and 16thC: Pre chemystery - when science was seen as magickal, mysterious, spiritual.

<<<Alchemy: a web site full of history, texts,etc etc>>>

The title and underlying concept of the installation is reflected in the alchemical term alembic, the device used by alchemists for their processes of purification, distillation:

"If you would imitate me, you must prepare all out of one simple, self-contained Matter, in one well-closed vessel, and in one alembic. The substance contains all that is needed for its perfect development, and must be prepared with a warmth that is always kept at the same gentle temperature. "

Jean de Meung, The Remonstrance of Nature, the Musaeum Hermeticum, 1678.

(Found at above web site)
I have a naiive understanding of alchemy, but I do apprecaite the idea that the elements themselves and the processes brought to bear on them could represent a metaphysical process effecting the self, the idea of attaining a deeper resonate understanding rather than simply observing a process and being objective, for in reality I find the things that science takes for granted, as read, or explains with words as being mystical and at root totally incomprehensible - the power and form of electricity, the growth of mould, the mysterious nature of living things, the awareness of self, the complexity of our nature - etc.

Science has claimed reality as logical, rational, empirical and ultimately explicable until quantum physics shone a light and disturbed that which was not quite perceivable. If the position of a particle is known then its velocity cannot be known and vice vesa; antimatter - positrons, quarks, muons, things that travel backwards in time. Chaos theory.

Virtual reality indeed! - we have no real idea of what reality is - is this why vr worlds are so dull? A book offers more virtuality than the current vogue of vr experiences.

So yes, I am glad that the throne of empiricism has been rocked, to really believe that we are capable of understanding and explaining everything and anything can only be a voice from the id/ego - a need to believe in some sort of control - a protection from the dark and mysterious, the prehistoric equivalence of fire in our modern day organised, controlled, linear time based life.

Alchemy.. the balancing of left and right brain, there are vast numbers of people who seek the unexplicable - the need for irrationality - UFO's, magick, ESP, dowsing, out of the body experiences, raves, new age travellers, cults, a primal need for ??