BB #3 #7 Print

Transcendental Aesthetic I presents a series of ten small works of Brigitte Bardot, created during November 2016. Images taken by Sam Lévin between 1959–1963, which Bardot said ‘…managed to capture my quintessential natural, reliable and sometimes even sublime beauty…thanks to him I will remain in the eyes of the world eternally beautiful, young and unforgettable’, provide the foundation for this new series. (Sam Lévin, 2001, p. 6) Visualised during two concerts at Milton Hall, London, 2016; Bach’s Mass in B Minor in late October and select pieces from Beethoven’s later works, in early November; the theme of the series is linked to fragments from the opening writings of Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, Transcendental Aesthetic. Here Kant describes space and time as forms of intuition rather than concepts, since both rely on our sensibility not our understanding. There is only one space; ’…for all parts of space, up to infinity, are simultaneous…’ and only one time; ‘different times are only parts of one and the same time’, but they are successive not simultaneous. (Kant, 2007, p. 63, 67) Through experimental drawing, further developing the use of cotton fabric within each of the works, while combining the artist’s signature hand stitching with machine stitched elements — each multi-layered piece is an expression of space and time. References Kant, I. (2007). Critique of Pure Reason. London: Penguin Classics Lévin, S. (2001). Brigitte Bardot par Sam Lévin. France: PC Editions