The 200 photographs in Trataka record the gradual disappearance of a candle’s physical form and the subtly changing mood of a passing day. Wax is consumed by fire and a solid object converted to light and heat. Finally, a last trace of white smoke rises as the candle gutters and dies.
Trataka is a yogic practice of concentration honed through staring at the center of a candle flame. It is said to still the mind, stimulate the pineal gland, open the third eye and promote psychic abilities.
This book may be used as an aid to daily meditation, a flick book for the impatient or as a memento mori.
Ian Whittlesea is an artist whose work explores the relationships between language, light, image and diagram both on the page and in the world. His translation of Yves Klein’s Les Fondements du Judo was published in 2009, Mazdaznan Health & Breath Culture in 2012, Becoming Invisible in 2014, The Egyptian Postures in 2017 and On Colour… in 2019. These texts have been collectively described as ‘instruction manuals for transcendental exercise’.
