Sparkling, Bejeweled Columns as Spatial Bodies

The decorated column, inlaid with glass, stones, tesserae, and other reflective materials presupposes a dynamic interaction with the viewer, who must circumambulate the column, which reveals itself through movement. This paper will explore glittering columns across premodernity– their experiential relationship to the beholder, to their environment. Rather than adorned with passive ornament, the column as a body in space, animated by light and ephemeral conditions, becomes animated as an artificial tree, or recalls moving waters through the interaction between light, material, and color. The changing conditions of light dematerialize the stone beneath and allow the mosaics to glitter, referring to tree imbrications or glimmering waters. I draw on haptic architecture, and haptic aesthetics (Juhanni Pallasmaa, Mark Paterson, and James Elkins) to pose the bejeweled column as a spatial body with the ability to affect the spectator.