The Concrete Holographic Image: an Examination of Spatial and Temporal Properties and their Application in a Religious Art Work

The premise of this thesis is that the ‘concrete holographic image’, a laser transmission hologram which has an object or a hologram of an object as its subject, has unique spatial and temporal properties which can suggest a plurality of tenses to a viewer. There is a lack of comprehensive analysis of the holographic representational system within art related theoretical and critical writing and a tendency to analyse individual works only in terms of generalities which apply to the concepts surrounding the holographic medium. While these form an important background for art image production, in some cases corresponding to artists works, the existing written material on the subject is inadequate as a model from which to draw the all important temporal conclusions.To date the critical reception of holograms has made no mention of acuity, the size of the viewing frustum, the depth of the image and scant mention of interference phenomena which are the intrinsic factors which I believe precipitate temporal illusions. Therefore this thesis examines the concrete holographic image in great detail on its own terms, firstly through theories of the basic image forming phenomena of interference and diffraction and secondly through the techniques of production as they have been adapted for the making of my art works. The extent of the metaphorical and allegorical potential of the spatial and temporal properties of the concrete holographic image are put to the ultimate test in a commission for St Brigid’s Church, Coogee. The Shrine of the Sacred Heart commission for St Brigid’s requires a concrete holographic image to facilitate devotion to the Sacred Heart. The Sacred Heart is not a physical thing but a complex, evolving spiritual entity with a realist pictorial history