DANIEL E. KELM
 

Investigations—
The Four Elements: Water

Daniel E. Kelm and Timothy C. Ely
1989
unique copy

summary
who
video

The series of unique books Investigations: The Four Elements draws upon Kelm’s and collaborator Tim Ely’s shared interest in alchemy and sacred geometry. Each book consists of a set number of interlocking panels that can be assembled into one or more shapes forming Platonic solids.

The Platonic solids—tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron—are polyhedrons with congruent sides, edges, and angles. Although these five shapes were known prior to Plato, they are specifically mentioned in his dialogue Timaeus. In this work, Plato describes these solids as the building blocks of matter, equating the tetrahedron with the element of fire, the cube with earth, the octahedron with air, the icosahedron with water, and the dodecahedron with the materials that form the stars and the cosmos.

—Aprile Gallant, Curator, Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, Smith College Museum of Art

Book sculpture by Kelm.

Painting and surface treatments by Ely.

Kelm collaborated with One Match Films to produce ten videos for the Poetic Science exhibition in 2007. These videos, commissioned by Smith College Museum of Art, were on display in the gallery for the duration of the show.

02:13

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Magnets are embedded in the flaps of the top of the box.

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ONE MATCH FILMS
 

Investigations—
The Four Elements: Water

Daniel E. Kelm and Timothy C. Ely
1989
unique copy

summary
who
video

The series of unique books Investigations: The Four Elements draws upon Kelm’s and collaborator Tim Ely’s shared interest in alchemy and sacred geometry. Each book consists of a set number of interlocking panels that can be assembled into one or more shapes forming Platonic solids.

The Platonic solids—tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron—are polyhedrons with congruent sides, edges, and angles. Although these five shapes were known prior to Plato, they are specifically mentioned in his dialogue Timaeus. In this work, Plato describes these solids as the building blocks of matter, equating the tetrahedron with the element of fire, the cube with earth, the octahedron with air, the icosahedron with water, and the dodecahedron with the materials that form the stars and the cosmos.

—Aprile Gallant, Curator, Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, Smith College Museum of Art

Book sculpture by Kelm.

Painting and surface treatments by Ely.

Kelm collaborated with One Match Films to produce ten videos for the Poetic Science exhibition in 2007. These videos, commissioned by Smith College Museum of Art, were on display in the gallery for the duration of the show.

02:13

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Ely collects material from sacred sites, some of which is often included in the surfaces he creates.

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ONE MATCH FILMS
 

Investigations—
The Four Elements: Water

Daniel E. Kelm and Timothy C. Ely
1989
unique copy

summary
who
video

The series of unique books Investigations: The Four Elements draws upon Kelm’s and collaborator Tim Ely’s shared interest in alchemy and sacred geometry. Each book consists of a set number of interlocking panels that can be assembled into one or more shapes forming Platonic solids.

The Platonic solids—tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron—are polyhedrons with congruent sides, edges, and angles. Although these five shapes were known prior to Plato, they are specifically mentioned in his dialogue Timaeus. In this work, Plato describes these solids as the building blocks of matter, equating the tetrahedron with the element of fire, the cube with earth, the octahedron with air, the icosahedron with water, and the dodecahedron with the materials that form the stars and the cosmos.

—Aprile Gallant, Curator, Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, Smith College Museum of Art

Book sculpture by Kelm.

Painting and surface treatments by Ely.

Kelm collaborated with One Match Films to produce ten videos for the Poetic Science exhibition in 2007. These videos, commissioned by Smith College Museum of Art, were on display in the gallery for the duration of the show.

02:13

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The box contains page panels and a quiver of pins. When all twenty page panels are pinned together they create an icosahedron.

The Investigations series is the earliest example of Kelm bindings with no permanent hinging; i.e., the pins can be removed and the pages completely disassembled.

click to proceed
ONE MATCH FILMS
 

Investigations—
The Four Elements: Water

Daniel E. Kelm and Timothy C. Ely
1989
unique copy

summary
who
video

The series of unique books Investigations: The Four Elements draws upon Kelm’s and collaborator Tim Ely’s shared interest in alchemy and sacred geometry. Each book consists of a set number of interlocking panels that can be assembled into one or more shapes forming Platonic solids.

The Platonic solids—tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron—are polyhedrons with congruent sides, edges, and angles. Although these five shapes were known prior to Plato, they are specifically mentioned in his dialogue Timaeus. In this work, Plato describes these solids as the building blocks of matter, equating the tetrahedron with the element of fire, the cube with earth, the octahedron with air, the icosahedron with water, and the dodecahedron with the materials that form the stars and the cosmos.

—Aprile Gallant, Curator, Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, Smith College Museum of Art

Book sculpture by Kelm.

Painting and surface treatments by Ely.

Kelm collaborated with One Match Films to produce ten videos for the Poetic Science exhibition in 2007. These videos, commissioned by Smith College Museum of Art, were on display in the gallery for the duration of the show.

02:13

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This and the following images are details of the complex mapping Ely creates.

Ely has this to say about his work: “What I’m trying to do is assemble symbols in such a way that a shift occurs in the viewer. Language doesn’t have to be verbal or visual. It can be a sensation. It can be in the form of signals. My marks depart from meaning but they’re not meaningless. They just have a different internal matrix.”

click to proceed
ONE MATCH FILMS
 

Investigations—
The Four Elements: Water

Daniel E. Kelm and Timothy C. Ely
1989
unique copy

summary
who
video

The series of unique books Investigations: The Four Elements draws upon Kelm’s and collaborator Tim Ely’s shared interest in alchemy and sacred geometry. Each book consists of a set number of interlocking panels that can be assembled into one or more shapes forming Platonic solids.

The Platonic solids—tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron—are polyhedrons with congruent sides, edges, and angles. Although these five shapes were known prior to Plato, they are specifically mentioned in his dialogue Timaeus. In this work, Plato describes these solids as the building blocks of matter, equating the tetrahedron with the element of fire, the cube with earth, the octahedron with air, the icosahedron with water, and the dodecahedron with the materials that form the stars and the cosmos.

—Aprile Gallant, Curator, Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, Smith College Museum of Art

Book sculpture by Kelm.

Painting and surface treatments by Ely.

Kelm collaborated with One Match Films to produce ten videos for the Poetic Science exhibition in 2007. These videos, commissioned by Smith College Museum of Art, were on display in the gallery for the duration of the show.

02:13

view video
hide
click to proceed
ONE MATCH FILMS
 

Investigations—
The Four Elements: Water

Daniel E. Kelm and Timothy C. Ely
1989
unique copy

summary
who
video

The series of unique books Investigations: The Four Elements draws upon Kelm’s and collaborator Tim Ely’s shared interest in alchemy and sacred geometry. Each book consists of a set number of interlocking panels that can be assembled into one or more shapes forming Platonic solids.

The Platonic solids—tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron—are polyhedrons with congruent sides, edges, and angles. Although these five shapes were known prior to Plato, they are specifically mentioned in his dialogue Timaeus. In this work, Plato describes these solids as the building blocks of matter, equating the tetrahedron with the element of fire, the cube with earth, the octahedron with air, the icosahedron with water, and the dodecahedron with the materials that form the stars and the cosmos.

—Aprile Gallant, Curator, Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, Smith College Museum of Art

Book sculpture by Kelm.

Painting and surface treatments by Ely.

Kelm collaborated with One Match Films to produce ten videos for the Poetic Science exhibition in 2007. These videos, commissioned by Smith College Museum of Art, were on display in the gallery for the duration of the show.

02:13

view video
hide
click to proceed
ONE MATCH FILMS
 

Investigations—
The Four Elements: Water

Daniel E. Kelm and Timothy C. Ely
1989
unique copy

summary
who
video

The series of unique books Investigations: The Four Elements draws upon Kelm’s and collaborator Tim Ely’s shared interest in alchemy and sacred geometry. Each book consists of a set number of interlocking panels that can be assembled into one or more shapes forming Platonic solids.

The Platonic solids—tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron—are polyhedrons with congruent sides, edges, and angles. Although these five shapes were known prior to Plato, they are specifically mentioned in his dialogue Timaeus. In this work, Plato describes these solids as the building blocks of matter, equating the tetrahedron with the element of fire, the cube with earth, the octahedron with air, the icosahedron with water, and the dodecahedron with the materials that form the stars and the cosmos.

—Aprile Gallant, Curator, Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, Smith College Museum of Art

Book sculpture by Kelm.

Painting and surface treatments by Ely.

Kelm collaborated with One Match Films to produce ten videos for the Poetic Science exhibition in 2007. These videos, commissioned by Smith College Museum of Art, were on display in the gallery for the duration of the show.

02:13

view video
hide
click to proceed
ONE MATCH FILMS
 

Investigations—
The Four Elements: Water

Daniel E. Kelm and Timothy C. Ely
1989
unique copy

summary
who
video

The series of unique books Investigations: The Four Elements draws upon Kelm’s and collaborator Tim Ely’s shared interest in alchemy and sacred geometry. Each book consists of a set number of interlocking panels that can be assembled into one or more shapes forming Platonic solids.

The Platonic solids—tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron—are polyhedrons with congruent sides, edges, and angles. Although these five shapes were known prior to Plato, they are specifically mentioned in his dialogue Timaeus. In this work, Plato describes these solids as the building blocks of matter, equating the tetrahedron with the element of fire, the cube with earth, the octahedron with air, the icosahedron with water, and the dodecahedron with the materials that form the stars and the cosmos.

—Aprile Gallant, Curator, Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, Smith College Museum of Art

Book sculpture by Kelm.

Painting and surface treatments by Ely.

Kelm collaborated with One Match Films to produce ten videos for the Poetic Science exhibition in 2007. These videos, commissioned by Smith College Museum of Art, were on display in the gallery for the duration of the show.

02:13

view video
hide
click to proceed
ONE MATCH FILMS
 

Investigations—
The Four Elements: Water

Daniel E. Kelm and Timothy C. Ely
1989
unique copy

summary
who
video

The series of unique books Investigations: The Four Elements draws upon Kelm’s and collaborator Tim Ely’s shared interest in alchemy and sacred geometry. Each book consists of a set number of interlocking panels that can be assembled into one or more shapes forming Platonic solids.

The Platonic solids—tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron—are polyhedrons with congruent sides, edges, and angles. Although these five shapes were known prior to Plato, they are specifically mentioned in his dialogue Timaeus. In this work, Plato describes these solids as the building blocks of matter, equating the tetrahedron with the element of fire, the cube with earth, the octahedron with air, the icosahedron with water, and the dodecahedron with the materials that form the stars and the cosmos.

—Aprile Gallant, Curator, Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, Smith College Museum of Art

Book sculpture by Kelm.

Painting and surface treatments by Ely.

Kelm collaborated with One Match Films to produce ten videos for the Poetic Science exhibition in 2007. These videos, commissioned by Smith College Museum of Art, were on display in the gallery for the duration of the show.

02:13

view video
hide
click to proceed
ONE MATCH FILMS
 

Investigations—
The Four Elements: Water

Daniel E. Kelm and Timothy C. Ely
1989
unique copy

summary
who
video

The series of unique books Investigations: The Four Elements draws upon Kelm’s and collaborator Tim Ely’s shared interest in alchemy and sacred geometry. Each book consists of a set number of interlocking panels that can be assembled into one or more shapes forming Platonic solids.

The Platonic solids—tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron—are polyhedrons with congruent sides, edges, and angles. Although these five shapes were known prior to Plato, they are specifically mentioned in his dialogue Timaeus. In this work, Plato describes these solids as the building blocks of matter, equating the tetrahedron with the element of fire, the cube with earth, the octahedron with air, the icosahedron with water, and the dodecahedron with the materials that form the stars and the cosmos.

—Aprile Gallant, Curator, Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, Smith College Museum of Art

Book sculpture by Kelm.

Painting and surface treatments by Ely.

Kelm collaborated with One Match Films to produce ten videos for the Poetic Science exhibition in 2007. These videos, commissioned by Smith College Museum of Art, were on display in the gallery for the duration of the show.

02:13

view video
hide
click to proceed
ONE MATCH FILMS
 

Investigations—
The Four Elements: Water

Daniel E. Kelm and Timothy C. Ely
1989
unique copy

summary
who
video

The series of unique books Investigations: The Four Elements draws upon Kelm’s and collaborator Tim Ely’s shared interest in alchemy and sacred geometry. Each book consists of a set number of interlocking panels that can be assembled into one or more shapes forming Platonic solids.

The Platonic solids—tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron—are polyhedrons with congruent sides, edges, and angles. Although these five shapes were known prior to Plato, they are specifically mentioned in his dialogue Timaeus. In this work, Plato describes these solids as the building blocks of matter, equating the tetrahedron with the element of fire, the cube with earth, the octahedron with air, the icosahedron with water, and the dodecahedron with the materials that form the stars and the cosmos.

—Aprile Gallant, Curator, Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, Smith College Museum of Art

Book sculpture by Kelm.

Painting and surface treatments by Ely.

Kelm collaborated with One Match Films to produce ten videos for the Poetic Science exhibition in 2007. These videos, commissioned by Smith College Museum of Art, were on display in the gallery for the duration of the show.

02:13

view video
hide