And There Was Light Besamin Spicebox with spicebook

"And There Was Light" is seven hinged page folding metal book that holds a spice box or besamin.

7 pages of the Spice Book And There Was Light depicting the Biblical narrative of creation

And There Was Light is an example of contemporary Judaica. This is a double-sided hinged metal book constructed from recycled tin cans. Each page symbolically represents a day of creation.

One side is the biblical narrative. (shown above) Every culture holds some legend for the origins of the earth and humanity. The biblical narrative of Genesis provides a powerful poetic drama with six days of work and the seventh day for rest and reflection.

7 pages of And There Was Light showing intellectual and creative achievements of man

On the other side, each page illustrates an analogous theme of secular achievements from enlightenment and logic to the scientific and engineering feats of humanity. For each page, the biblical event on one side relates to the secular theme on the other side.

Defining the relationships of the moon, sun, and stars as the passage of time, exploring the world in the search for spices, and acknowledging that the multitude of races and religions of the world hold more similarities than differences.

Spice book with the door like spice box placed in front

The final page, the day of rest, has a doorway-like niche within which the Besamin Spice Box rests.

The Spice Box container is modeled after a contemporary door, inspired by historical Spice Boxes that mimicked the architecture of their time. The curtain on the reverse side of the Spice Box is pierced to allow the scent of the spice to permeate the air. As a portal between the personal inner sanctum of peace and the world beyond, the Spice Box helps us to pause and reflect amidst the rush of modern living.

Many of the pages were constructed using spice tins. The materials are a metaphor for the concept of a spice box, and the spirit of tzedakah.

back side of the metal spice book And There Was Light

Shipping and display of “And There Was Light”

top view of And There Was Light with spice box removed

This book weighs about 10 pounds, but it folds up compactly for shipping. It can be displayed in any number of configurations, though shows all the pages best when fully extended.

And There Was Light is included in 500 Handmade Books and featured on the back cover. It is also included in the book 500 Judaica and Modern Judaica

Each page of And There was Light

Constructed from recycled tin containers and spice tins, vintage steel dollhouses, 10 k. gold rivets, aluminum rivets, stainless steel screws.

Each panel:14.25"H x 9"W Entire book: 14.25"H x 46"W

Featured

1st page

This is the first page, portraying the first day of creation from the Bible - "And there was light." The image was created from re-purposed spice tins.

2nd page

This second page portrays the second day of the Biblical narrative - “And divided the waters.”

Constructed from recycled tin containers and spice tins, vintage steel dollhouses, 10 k. gold rivets, aluminum rivets, stainless steel screws.

3rd page

This third page depicts the creation of dry land as recounted on the third day in Genesis - "Let the dry land appear."

Constructed from recycled tin containers and spice tins, vintage steel dollhouses, 10 k. gold rivets, aluminum rivets, stainless steel screws.

4th page

The fourth page illustrates the creation of stars, and heavenly bodies - "Let there be lights in the firmament."

Constructed from recycled tin containers and spice tins, vintage steel dollhouses, 10 k. gold rivets, aluminum rivets, stainless steel screws.

5th page

This fifth page embodies "every living creature" from the fifth day of creation in the Book of Genesis such as fish, moose, and bird images in a natural landscape.

Constructed from recycled tin containers and spice tins, vintage steel dollhouses, 10 k. gold rivets, aluminum rivets, stainless steel screws.

6th page

This is the 6th page from the Biblical narrative, an abstract portrayal of Adam and Eve created from recycled tin cans. Continue looking at the next seven pages.

The first seven pages depicted the Biblical narrative of creation. The next seven pages portray achievements of humankind and secular accomplishments such as enlightenment, logic, scientific, and engineering feats. The theme of each page corresponds to a Biblical narrative from the other side.

final page in the front

This is the final page from the Biblical narrative, the day of rest. Continue looking at the next seven pages.

The first seven pages depicted the Biblical narrative of creation. The next seven pages portray achievements of humankind and secular accomplishments such as enlightenment, logic, scientific, and engineering feats. The theme of each page corresponds to a Biblical narrative from the other side.

final page in the back

This image is the final page, the day of rest, surrounded by the modern city and skyline.

The removable spice box is the door in the center of this page. As a portal between the personal inner sanctum of peace and the modern world beyond, the spice box helps us to pause and reflect amidst the rush of modern living. Spice box fits into the final page representing the day of rest.

6th page in the back

This page represents modern man and woman. The images reflect the thought processes of humankind: cognition, logic, conceptual, and analytical thinking.
The reverse side depicts the creation of man and woman from the Bibical narrative.

5th page in the back

This page represents the domestication of animals.

The reverse side depicts the creation of animals from the Biblical narrative.

4th page in the back

This page illustrates the measure of time through clocks and calendars. Man's first measure of time was understanding the cycles of the sky.

The reverse side of this page depicts the creation of the celestial bodies in the sky.

3rd page in the back

The development of maps, longitude and latitude represent man's understanding of dry land. Maps lead to voyages of discovery.

The reverse side of this page depicts the creation of dry land from the Biblical narrative

2nd page in the back

The red bridge (representing the Golden Gate Bridge) is constructed from vintage Schilling Spice tins (labeled San Francisco).

A bridge represents man's creation of separating earth from sky. A parallel to the 2nd day of creation. Feats of engineering and the creativity of modern man separate air from water. The water is blue lines of a black pepper tin.

1st page in the back

This page is about the enlightenment and discoveries of humankind.

The reverse side of this page depicts the first day of creation, "And there was light."

Day of Rest

This is the final page, the day of rest, surrounded by the modern city and skyline. Look at the center closely. The spice box has been removed for the left photograph.

The Spice box fits in the doorway-like niche (right photo.) It represents a portal between the personal inner sanctum of peace to the world beyond. The spice box helps us to pause and reflect amidst the rush of modern living.