Not Knot, 2025
Materials: Matt acrylic on wood
Dimensions: 15cm W x 15cm H x 15cm D
A Borromean knot is a not knot, since it has interconnecting rings, so it is not an actual knot. Each of the Borromean rings are said to be a symbol of strength in unity, should one ring be removed they all fall apart.
Jacques Lacan used the Borromean rings as a metaphor for understanding the mental structure of an individual’s mind and their connection with reality. Lacan associated one link with images and an individual’s imagination, another link is associated with how an individual exchanges information through language, and the third link represents all that cannot be represented by images or language, such as the unknowable, the unthinkable, or that which an individual resists. And if one of Lacan’s links is missing then an individual’s reality is said to be inconsistent.