If you are not familiar with Phillip K. Smith III, I bet you must know Plato, a prestigious forebear for philosophy and science. His famous debate concerning "Man is the measure of all things" has influenced our social ideology for many generations. But perhaps we do not understand the real meaning of this statement.
Protagoras gave this statement when he and Plato had a dialogue regarding the truth of the world. "Man is the measure of all things" suggests that there is no objective truth. Whatever individuals deem to be the truth is true. Therefore, the truth is only true when it occurs to be true to me.
Following this idea, Phillip K. Smith III creates 10 columns that reveals the subjective truth. The modular structure consists of thirty forms of equal heights and three distinct widths, adhering to the ten concrete columns in unique combinations of 90 and 180-degree angles that shift between aligning with and disrupting the grid of columns. The forms are animated by Smith's patented light program. As the surfaces emit gradations of light and color, the dimensions and experience of the room shift and blur, evoking the changes of light in the Los Angeles atmosphere throughout the day. Recalling both LA's Light and Space movement and ancient cosmologies, light is a resonant image for the beginning of Bridge Projects.
This piece of art reminds us of the ever-changing world that never fails to remind us of the volatile world. The light shifting in and time and space mimics the ebb and flow of the world. The light is a vehicle of Smith's artistic implication. He cleverly uses light to represent his ideas of nature as well as the human world. Since the light is undefinable and variable, it occurs to be versatile and inscrutable, resembling one's life which embraces so many possibilities, and the change is always ongoing. When we are walking through the lighting 10 columns, we cast our shadows on them and reshape the contour of every dimension. The viewers threading through one column after the other are like roaming through the phantasmatic dreams. We do not only define the shapes of light but also capture our images in the ever-changing illuminated columns, as though we are experiencing our own lives——we are the protagonists of the whole story.
This image of the viewer reflected on the column refers to the "Man" in the quotation "Man is the measure of all things". It is implied that the viewer has become the sculpturer for engraving the structure of all things. In this sense, "man" amounts to the individual, yet not to a generic, impersonal, subject: "Of all things the measure is man" is each person with his or her personal history, experiences, and expectations with a past and a future, i.e., people whose judgments largely reflect their individual experience.
The things emphasize how we relate to things, use them, judge them, and so on. Just like those columns around us, they are standing there, waiting for viewers to do them justice. As far as the notion of measure is concerned, it is clear that man is the measure not of the existence of these things and facts, but rather of how they present themselves. Therefore, "Man is the measure of all things" alludes to the relation that a person needs to be aware of with the world. This is why when the artist presents 10 lighting columns, he does not leave the columns in fixed shapes and colors. Rather, he intentionally gives space, allowing the viewer to weave across those columns from one to another.
Public participation seems always to be the utmost important consideration for Smith's art installations. His other works, such as Lucid Stead（2013）and Detroit Skybridge（2018）, involving the effects of light demonstrate how individuals come to be the measure of everything and therefore are accountable for the truth of the world.
The Detroit Skybridge project reactivates a disused pedestrian walkway that links two towers in the Michigan city's downtown area. This pedestrian walkway is sectioned evenly by glass panels coinciding with the structure of the buildings that it connects. It might be coincidental that the shape of the walkway, with its rigid edges and the segmented exterior, appearing to be a resemblance of the ruler, measuring the city. The elucidated glass panels shifts between darkness and brightness highlight the idea of this work. If we see the even segmentation of the Sky Bridge as a measurement of sorts, then illumination in various gradients and patterns at night parallels the change of the world throughout time and space. And since this installation pertains more to commutation than to sightseeing. Pedestrians become part of the program-making process as they commute from one end to another. The course, along with the variation of colors and patterns, renders every commuter a gauge of the measurement.
The stripe element is not initially used in Sky Bridge, in his early installations like Lucid Stead（2013）, he has already visualized the concept of Man as the measurement of the world. Lucid Stead is a discarded cabin appearing in the middle of wildness and is ornamented with mirror stripes. However, the mirror stripes are not for decoration. The idea was from Smith's observation of the cabin. He examined the cabin inside out and was inspired by a mirror attached to the exterior of the cabin. The artist utilizes the reflective nature of light as a connotation for self-recognition. Approaching the cabin, the viewer recognizes him/herself in the striped mirror, though always incompletely. The lack of completion, however, harbors the possibility of variable interpretations. The stripes of reflection amount to the subjective truth, while the mirrorless stripes parallel the objective world. And the cabin resembles a world consisting of subjective truth and objective things. Therefore, as the viewer perceives his/her image, s/he sees the look of his/her self——the look is presented through the interaction between the objective things and the subjective interpretations.
The idea of self-recognition is not uncommon in his installations. And what Smith intends to clarify is not just Man being the measure of the objective world, but also us as components of the world. To use Heidegger's words, one must find one's self in connecting to the world. This is why when we see Smith's Open Sky (2018), we grasp the image of how we are associating with the surroundings.
Presented during Milan design week, the artwork transforms the historic courtyard into a physical ring of reflected sky through carefully-angled mirrored planes. As Smith III says himself that his work is inspired by the constant shifts in light, color, and form that are presented in the natural and built environment.
His idea is centered around presenting the harmonious relation between Mana and the environment. Giving that this installation is set in a historical site, it becomes a vehicle for both the natural surroundings and the human cavillation. it is at the core of the installation that viewers begin to be aware of the intimacy with their surroundings. The stripe mirrors are slanted, reflecting the dynamism of the sky. It is like a heaven on earth that evokes contemplation of the universe.
