In Raphael’s The School of Athens, the stairs that run across the mural of the agora seem to physically separate representations of high knowledge (philosophy) to those of low knowledge (mathematics). In our Re-Frame, we have attempted to accentuate this difference in the status of knowledge by prolonging the surface of the penultimate step, onto which flamboyant and luxurious objects were placed. This not only made the two categories almost inaccessible to each other, but also conveyed the sense of superiority and advantage possessed by the high social classes over the lower castes (characterized by the tumultuous and crumbling appearance of the items situated below the projecting layer of cardboard). This sharp segregation further refers to the lack of communication and, hence, of cooperation between the two classes in today’s academic and working worlds, contradicting the environment of collectivity portrayed in Raphael’s painting. More importantly, our photographic reinterpretation of The School of Athens repudiates the concept of Mohism, which demands that people imitate heaven by engaging in the practice of collective friendship and care. While this theory can be extracted from the celestial and utopian atmosphere surrounding Raphael’s philosophers, our Re-Frame piece develops a more realistic and inhospitable environment. This effect was achieved by selecting a space, which provided plain, white walls and surfaces, as well as a cooler light.
Moreover, our Re-Frame Photograph successfully imitates Raphael’s use of light in The School of Athens. In both pieces, there is a significant amount of light deriving from different sides of the room, intensely brightening the upper segment of the stairs and transmitting the idea of intellectual thought, which contrasts with the more obscure ambience surrounding both the mathematicians and the objects pertaining to lower standings. Nevertheless, unlike the staircase painted in Raphael’s The School of Athens, our Re-Frame installation features a staircase in the shape of a podium in order to convey the notion of a funded progression towards enlightenment. This clearly differs from the stationary and trapped position of the lower social classes: whereby the projecting piece of cardboard covering the grotesque items operates as a somewhat barrier inhibiting their intellectual or academic, working and social advance. Accordingly, at the height of intellectual achievement are Plato and Aristotle, in the photograph represented by the two artificial candles situated at the apex of the staircase. Their position in relation to the structural composition and corporeal distribution in the original painting has been preserved: with the diploma booklet mimicking the basic form of the arc and highlighting their central locality.
