"Part of a pioneering movement."
TODAY SHOW
THE BIG PICTURE
Reclaimed redwood wood sculpture
60" x 63" x 2.25"
Framed print of this sculpture
68" x 71" x 2"
2022
This timeline explores the evolution of human perspective, chronicling moments when technological inventions decentered us as humans and changed our perception of the “big picture” and our sense of who we are in the universe. It starts with homo sapiens — We Are Here — around 300,000 years ago. We thought we were the center of everything here on Earth. And then when we realized we weren’t, that completely changed our sense of where we are in the larger universe. When we invented the microscope, we realized how many organisms were there that we’d never seen. We invented the telescope and realized that there could be other galaxies. I also include when we first discovered LSD, because it let us see things we’d never seen before, changing our sense of what’s real and what’s not, revealing the subconscious. Or the first time we saw a photo of the Earth — it completely changed our sense of our home. Or the first time we were connected, or now, how we’re so over-connected, and we don’t realize how important it is to unplug occasionally from the network to get perspective. I recently added the release of generative AI, which forced us to ask, Is there a bigger intelligence? It ends with, “Where are we?” a question we’ve asked again and again as homo sapiens and we will continue to. This particular artwork started for me with that end question, where are we? And then I worked backwards on how I was going to get there. Usually, a new technology will force that question in a new way.
The Big Picture sculpture debuted as part of Tiffany Shlain’s SHACK15 2022 artist-in-residency exhibition Human Nature and was in Shlain's solo exhibition at Nancy Hoffman Gallery in New York City in 2024. This piece is part of a series of tree ring timeline sculptures that explores the idea of tree ring dating, reimagining what different histories the tree may have witnessed and playing with scale. THE BIG PICTURE outlines the evolution of human perspective, chronicling moments when technological inventions decentered us as humans and changed our perception of the “big picture.”​​
​
Text from the beginning of timeline to present day:​
​
-
315,000 years ago: We Are Here Homo sapiens evolve into existence
-
147 (ish): We Are the Center of Everything! Ptolemy proposes that the sun revolves around the Earth
-
800s: We Can See Better Invention of a magnifying “reading stone,” the first lens
-
1543: We See That Earth Is Not the Center of the Solar System Copernican Revolution: Earth no longer viewed as center of the galaxy
-
1600: We Can See Closer Microscope invented
-
1608: We Can See Farther Telescope invented
-
1876: We Can Connect With People We Cannot See Telephone invented
-
1887: We Can Reach Mass Audiences Discovery of electromagnetic waves paves the way for radio and television
-
1893: We Can See Inside Our Heads Subconscious conceived
-
1895: We Can See Inside Our Bodies X-ray invented
-
1903: We Can See from Above Airplane invented
-
1924: We Realize We’re Not the Center of the Universe Either Edward Hubble’s findings prefigure the Big Bang Theory and show existence of other galaxies
-
1938: We Can Destroy Ourselves Discovery of nuclear fission leads to development of atomic weapons.
-
1943: We Can See the Big Picture Accidental discovery of LSD provides the mind-altering experiences humans have found in other psychedelics for millennia
-
1957: We Can See the Bigger Picture Quantum mechanics suggests the possibility of parallel universes
-
1967: We Can See Our Planet “Earthrise” photograph taken from space, and environmental movement begins
-
1989: We Can All Be Connected World Wide Web invented
-
2007: We Can Connect Anywhere/Anytime iPhone debuts
-
2009-ongoing: We Can’t Stop Connecting Anywhere/Anytime Screen addiction becomes a problem
-
2011: We See There Is No Center of the Universe and it’s rapidly expanding
-
2022- We can 2022 We Question Our Relationship with Intelligence Generative AI is released
-
Today… Where Are We?
Inquire about this artwork: art@tiffanyshlain.com