hiva

andala

Designed and built by Art Donovan. September, 2008- January, 2009

Part 1. Designing and Building the Mandala.

My most recent Steampunk work, The “Shiva Mandala”,(2009) is the culmination of my life-long interests in antiquescience, history, freemasonry, astronomy, iconography andglobal religions. To date, it stands as the most complex designin my entire Steampunk collection. After rendering hundreds of preliminary sketches andconcepts, the final rough sketch at the bottom became thebasis for Shiva MandalaThe Mandala would consist of a large central unitsurrounded by four “planets”- top, bottom, left and right. A large Gimbal Ring in the center will now physicallyand graphically support each of the separate units in thedesign. Each unit could now boast a unique personalityand illustrate the entire story of the piece. With this typeof design I could now include the very important elementof

physical

movement

. It was this wonderful kineticquality that was implied in my previous Steampunkdesigns but absolutely necessary in this particular work.Now that I had the correct proportions, I could hand craftall of the mahogany and metal parts of the Mandala in thedimensions as needed. But the success of the Mandala to berendered in it’s exact proportions depended on one finalelement- the Human Skull for my ‘Craniometer.’Locating a suitable and realistic skull is not easy. Although there are thousands of skulls available inmany materials, there are very few that have theanatomical proportions and authentic details required.With no choice but to sculpt it myself of solid plaster,the skull became the singular design element that guidedthe entire size and proportions of the Mandala.This means that the completed unit would need to be afull 6' tall by 6' wide in order to match the proportions of the final sketch.

Part 2. The Shiva Mandala. Technical Description and Emblematic Study

The central part of the Mandala is the

illuminated Astrolabe.

The astrolabe is 32" in diameter and is a precise reproduction of the ancient Persian modelcreated by Muhammad ibn Ab

Bakr in the year 1221, as seen in the Oxford History of ScienceMuseum in England. Since the original astrolabe is made entirely of solid brass, I enlarged theoriginal image and transposed the materials so that the piece could be back lit, yet still have thedetail and drama of the original ancient masterpiece. The astrolabe unit is entirely hand painted intranslucent and opaque dyes with the addition of hand made brass details.The “Rete” or movable piece that covers the face of the astrolabe is hand made of black polycarbonate.Opaque enough to have visual mass but still transparent so that it would still illuminate.Hand painted color and B/W details were added to the outside of the “Mater”. According to James Morrison, “The astrolabe is the first complex device used for navigation.It locates the celestial bodies at specific times as does the later mariner’s sextant and quadrant.”This is emblematic of the innate desire to find our own place and proper position in the worldaround us. Click on the link below to read about the original ancient astrolabe:http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk:9673/Astrolabe/WebInterface/User/browseReport?Astrolabe_ID=165The four bodies or “planets” that surround this astrolabe have both metaphoric and scientific meaning.

TimeDestruction/ Life ForceRebirthMortality

Time: The 24 hour Clock

at 12:00 represents the 24 hours of the day that freemasons aretaught to divide into equal parts according to prescribed masonic law. Below the clock is the masonic“Past master’s Jewel”. This illustrates the desire to attain perfection in both the corporeal andspiritual worlds. It consists of the Compasses, set at 30 degrees, with which masons are taught “tocircumscribe their desires and keep them in due bounds with all mankind”. The Sun Disk representsthe master of the lodge, who is sworn to govern the lodge with the regularity of the celestial bodies.The mariner’s quadrant replaces the standard masonic square and it represents the tool that aidsthe master in correctly and safely navigating his lodge. The pyramid placed in the center of thequadrant contains the masonic “All Seeing Eye” of God.

Life Force:

The

Plasma Disk

represents both the essential component of all physical life:electricity, and also the noble pursuit of all the physical sciences: astronomy, biology, and thephysiological arts.

Mortality: The Craniometer

. Here, I rendered my own version of this antique 19 century

device- Originally used in phrenology a tool to measure and compare the dimensions and proportionsof the human skull. Masonically, the skull reminds us of our brief mortality but greater still, ourshared and identical human bonds.

Nataraja Shiva: Destruction and Rebirth.

Positioned at 9:00, the Shiva is located in the finalquadrant of the design. In this Mandala, Shiva, representing the end , beginning and rebirth of theuniverse, blurs the distinction between religion, philosophy and science.