META ECCLESIAE
The individual drawings of Meta Ecclesiae arise on the basis of a hash-seed that provides random values for the functions specified in the generative code. On the basis of the hash, the generative code renders a concrete work with concrete values of variable elements; different hash-seeds produce different values from which the code generates a large number of drawings with unique and unrepeatable combinations of attributes. The generative code operates deterministically and without external dependencies: it does not call upon a previously generated drawing stored in any library, but instead, upon every request for the same given hash, redraws the same drawing anew.
Every generated work has its own figital derivative: a code-drawn image printed on adequate surface. The figital format translates the initial state of the drawing as it stands at the moment of generation.
The churches depicted in the generated works are metaphysical churches — Meta Ecclesiae. As such, Meta Ecclesiae are not representations of existing physical buildings but formal visual records of a spiritual space. This spiritual space is an inner dwelling constituted in a personal relation with God; therefore, Meta Ecclesiae symbolize the immediate personal and spiritual experience of God. Thus each generated work symbolically represents the spiritual space in which an individual participates, rather than the physical space of collective worship. The spiritual space of personal experience always carries a specific qualitative character, and therefore the drawings of Meta Ecclesiae vary so that no two are identical. Since only Orthodoxy recognizes the possibility of an immediate personal experience of God, the Meta Ecclesiae depicted in the drawings are oriented eastward, in accordance with the orientation of Orthodox churches.
The depiction of Meta Ecclesiae is executed as an abstract drawing of strict form which, through its constitutive elements, preserves a relation to the established architectural ground plans of churches. Since the depicted Meta Ecclesiae do not represent physical buildings, the drawing is emancipated from technical drawing as the customary mode of representing a church as an architectural object. For the same reason, the drawings of metaphysical churches may take unusual shapes that depart from established architectural forms. The relation between Meta Ecclesiae and existing churches-as-buildings is indicated by the variable lines in the background. These lines are rendered in accordance with the model of technical architectural drawing and provide a drawing-based context suggesting the equality of the church’s reality as a spiritual space in both the metaphysical and physical domains. The model of technical drawing is artistically processed and abstracted so that, in the background, it appears as a network of lines whose intersections bear crosses.
AESTHETICS
The Meta Ecclesiae project explores the possibility of creating diverse and complex works of visually accomplished compositions within strictly defined and predetermined parameters. The point of departure for this project is the architecture of Orthodox churches, which establishes clear and rigorous frameworks for the necessities and possibilities of the inner structure and elements of the temple. The generative code is conceived so that, through the variation of given elements, it produces drawings of unique, unrepeatable, and harmonious compositions, while the ground plans of the Meta Ecclesiae do not depart from the fundamental structure of Orthodox church architecture.
Each generated work represents a unique combination of the following parameters, with all variabilities dependent on the hash. Every generated Meta Ecclesia necessarily contains doors, a naos, an iconostasis, the royal doors, and an altar. These necessary elements may vary in size, and the altar may take either a circular or a rectangular form. An additional layer of structural variability is introduced through possible elements such as the porch, narthex, apses, domes, windows, roof structures, columns, icons, and staircases. Possible elements vary in presence or absence, in number, and in size. The lines that describe domes and the roof structure also vary in color. Finally, each drawing contains a cross of variable size and position within the inner space of the Meta Ecclesia, as well as the number of prayers corresponding to the surface area of that space, placed in the lower right corner.
The ground plan of a Meta Ecclesia is constructed through a negative procedure: the code, as a generative system, overlays fundamental geometric forms (circle, square, cross, ellipse) and then removes their intersections. From the resulting relations of lines and voids, the walls and the supporting structure are constituted. By employing this negative method, one obtains forms that are not directly articulated but emerge from the intersections of geometric relations.
The ground plan is presented within a visual field with a defined background, wherein the background color, the color of the church’s interior space, and the colors of the lines describing the domes and roof are derived from a predefined Byzantine palette. In each generated work, the colors of these elements differ, and the selection and combination of colors depend on the hash.
The background represents the ambient context and defines the space in which the Meta Ecclesia appears. The background colors function as a visual atmosphere that envelops the structure and influences the general impression of light and depth. The colors indicate whether the setting is a sandy desert, a rocky desert, a forest, or an earthy terrain, while monastic types receive a sky-blue background as a sign of complete spiritual ascent. The background is further articulated through an abstract network of lines with crosses at their junctions, which links the Meta Ecclesia to the space within which it appears. The number and arrangement of the lines in the network, as well as the size of the crosses at the junctions, vary depending on the hash.
TEAM
The collaboration between the artist and the philosopher unites the inner necessity of the creative act with the precision of philosophical reflection; two key presuppositions of a valid generative project. The authorial team signs the works with a clearly articulated creative methodology and execution in which every step bears a defined meaning.
- Artist
Srđan Šarović is an interdisciplinary artist and art theorist. His artistic practice is grounded in a unique platform that bridges theoretical-philosophical reflection and artistic creation. Šarović’s artworks, usually abstract and expressive in form, span multiple media and integrate unconventional technical approaches.
- Philosopher
Una Popović is a philosopher and a university professor. Her scholarly work intertwines several branches of philosophy, with a primary focus on the philosophy of art and the philosophy of language, namely the study of the ontology of artistic creation and the methodological grounding of philosophical concepts.
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