NARRATOR: 

In The Terrible Uncertainty of the Thing Described artist Doug Hall addresses the philosophical idea of the sublime. Through a powerful, almost overwhelming barrage of images and sound, he explores what it takes to transfix us with amazement or awe.  

In the installation, you’ll see video monitors and video projection, as well as other striking visual elements, including a huge Tesla coil. This coil discharges one and a half million volts of electricity in spectacular streams of sparks and light every thirty minutes. The footage shown on the monitors documents various natural disasters– floods, tornadoes, a forest fire– as well as man-made spectacles, like a blast furnace.  

For over twenty years Hall has been examining how power in both nature and society is shaped by technology, primarily that of television. In this piece, he brings us face to face with the contrast between electricity in its raw, unharnessed form– the Tesla coil– and electricity as a finished product– the image on a TV screen. He shows us that art isn’t always an expensive commodity, or a unique object. Here, instead, it’s the experience of a series of dynamic events and images.  

The title of this piece comes from philosopher Edmund Burke’s “Enquiry into the Origins of our Idea About the Sublime and the Beautiful.” For 19th century poets and artists, embracing fear and uncertainty was seen as the only way to find beauty or transcendence. By fusing nature with technology, Hall creates a truly sublime experience for his viewers.