Welcome to the official site for the film “Secrets of the Sun – Journey Into the Fire”.
“Secrets of the Sun – Journey Into the Fire” explores the inception and creation of Secrets of the Sun – Millennial Meditations – a unique and transformational solar spectrum environmental artwork by Peter Erskine. The film, which began production in 1989, follows Erskine’s personal and artistic journey making this unique and transformational artwork from 1989 to 1992. Erskine created his solar spectrum art technology at his studio in Venice, California.
Erskine Studio 1991 Venice, CA 1991
Erskine Studio w Heliostat, Venice CA 1990
Erskine Studio, Venice CA 1991
Trajan’s Market in the Roman Forum
In 1991 he was offered the opportunity to stage an exhibition of this stunning work at the 2,000 year-old Trajan’s Market located in the Roman Forum.
With the help of LA-based art collector Fred Weisman and the John H. Heinz III Foundation, the inaugural exhibition of Secrets of the Sun opened on the 1992 Spring Equinox at Trajan’s Markets in the Roman Forum.
Producer/Director Michael W. Barnard had made an earlier 1/2-hour TV documentary about Erskine’s earlier sculpture work “Breathing Light”, which aired on KOCE, the Southern California PBS station. When Barnard saw what Erskine was developing with his solar spectrum environmental art technology, he decided to document the process and follow it wherever it might lead. This turned into a 28 year journey.
The initial phase of the project was shot primarily in 16mm with assistance from Fuji Film Ltd. and Laser Pacific Laboratories (now Technicolor) in Hollywood, California. The project was brought up to date with new HD footage shot in 2012 and 2013, including extensive interviews with Erskine. Additional update interviews were also shot in 2000 and 2005. All production and post-production was handled by Barnard’s company BoltPIX Studios, Inc., located at the 18th Street Arts Center in Santa Monica, California, and now also in Fairifield, Iowa.
The original music for the film was created by New York-based sound artist/composer Bruce Odland, who also created – with his partner, Berlin-based Sam Auinger – a stunning, innovative interactive live and pre-recorded sound installation for the 1992 Rome exhibition.