Mario M. Muller is Stephen Wise Temple & Schools’ Artist-in-Residence. His art appears all over our campus and in our High Holy Day Machzor, Sha’ar HaShamayim. Each September, Muller adorns our campus with site-specific banners installed for the entire year. The last four iterations have featured his striking use of contrast and shadow. As you explore our mountaintop starting this fall, you will be greeted by Muller’s newest project, a gregarious explosion of color celebrating our community’s upcoming 60th anniversary.
36 Bouquets for Wise
By Mario M. Muller
Stephen Wise Temple & Schools Artist-In-Residence
Composing 36 images for the banner installation is always a bit of a bouillabaisse of creativity. This year was no different.
Seven months ago, I had already started to experiment with certain themes and visual extravagances for the fifth incarnation of what has become the annual banner project. Above all else, my goal was to acknowledge the 60th anniversary of the temple.
Working, as I do, almost exclusively in black and white, I decided to surprise everyone by making the compositions gregariously colorful. I started harvesting images of flowers from all over Los Angeles. I was omnivorous when it came to color, texture, and fragrance. But making a simple arrangement was not nearly enough. I turned to puzzle pieces and the patterns that they create when assembled.
I’ve had a longstanding fascination with puzzles. As a kid I would tear through 1,000- and 1,500-piece puzzles with focused determination and speed. My son Wolfgang has the same patience and mad skills.
In the mid-1990s, with my career only a decade old, I composed several variations of puzzle shapes that, when multiplied and duplicated, would fit into each other endlessly. A new era of research was dawning with the mapping of the human genome. I was riveted. A tessellated fabric became a rich metaphor for the shared molecules of DNA that bind humanity together. The foundational pieces are identical, but through combinations and permutations, a rich tapestry of limitless variety is generated.
Lightning struck. I married the two inspirations. Each puzzle piece was to be adorned by one flower. Assemble in different scales and repeat. Assemble and repeat. Thirty-six variations, each with a distinct flavor. Each with an implied aroma. Well over 1,000 shapes woven into a rich fabric.
The result is a series of conceptual bouquets that will “bloom” all year long. The endless variation of pattern and rhythm is a metaphor for the limitless resilience of Judaism. They will not only acknowledge our successes but also announce our ambitions. Each flower, each shape indexes each member of our community. Each bouquet, in turn, celebrates the congregation as a whole that is indeed greater than the sum of the parts.
Click on any of the thumbnail images below to see the full image that will be displayed on the corresponding campus banner.
