Title
Creation Date
2014
Preview
Medium
video projection on glass
Description
Dimensions: 22" x 30" (projection area); 23 minutes (running time)
This video is part of a larger work entitled Static Elongation of Time.
Rights
© Jessica Ashley Wright, 2014. Photo credit: Jessica Ashley Wright.
Keywords
analog, space, Boise, limitations, contemporary, conceptual
Artist Statement
The installation, Static Elongation of Time studies the limitations of the conception and existence of time through sleep. Within the duration of sleep, one is not fully aware of time. Through the absence of physical awareness within sleep and dreams, space and time are both elongated into alternate narratives. This world of alternate narratives merges away from a linear understanding of the world and transitions into a sequence of events that no longer follow a set formality of time.
This project derived from an awareness of the limitations of not only oneself, moreover the world of which one is encompassed within. I began to question the elements that define an individual’s world, and what would particularly happen if certain elements were removed or altered. Elements include human senses (vision, hearing…), mannerism, exterior elements (replacement of sounds and perception of time), linguistics, and so on and so forth. In resolute the question of the perception of time during a state of unawareness, or sleep emerged to the forefront. The contemporary research of this concept stands at a state of transition into a installation which constructs a series of narratives emphasizing the limitations of this world through the altering of an individuals thinking and physical space through sleep. The three components of this installation study this concept.
The photographic series, Sleep Study I, is comprised of a series digital archival prints composed of a singular figure taking part in a sequence of movements signifying a poetic exploration of space and time. This series of prints; presented within light boxes; questions the awareness of an individual’s existence within a space while in the state of sleep.
Sleep Study II, attempts to illustrate the altered time and space of the mind in a dream-like state through a series of slides. The sequence of slides does not record a fluid sequence of lineal movements, rather, this element of the installation narratives the distinction and altercation of the sequence of time through a scripted set of movements within a dream-like state. Within this component, the fragmented and momentary absence of the perception of time is illustrated through the slides enveloped within a set timed transition and click of slides.
The final component, Sleep Study III; displaying a video performance upon a piece of glass hanging a few feet off the ground within a space; illustrates the contrast between the alternate narratives within the realm of sleep, and the fluidity of time in the physical world. The translucent nature and position within the space represents the overlap of the physical world and the alternate narration of time within a sleep state.
The faster one falls asleep, the quicker the nights will pass. Sleep forgets the speed of time, does it not?