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Expanding One's Notions of Time
Expanding One's Notions of Time
Three works exploring the shape of time.
Three works exploring the shape of time.
Shadow Survey, (2019). Wooden level staff with mason’s string line in situ tracing the path of the sun and moon’s shadow on the Vernal Equinox.
In collaboration with Celina Osuna.
Shadows are often thought of as merely two dimension things, but in fact they are weightless three dimensional objects with depth and volume. On the Vernal Equinox, one of two day in which the plane of Earth's equator passed directly through the center of the Sun, we erected a wooden staff and traced it's shadow from sunrise to sunset. Between the staff itself, the shadow along the ground, and each erected string, a triangle was drawn—a triangle describing the boundaries of the shadow at that moment in time. By creating these triangles at 15 minute increments over a full day's duration, one can visualize the shadow created by the sun as a voluminous object swept out through space and time.
That evening, coinciding with the Vernal Equinox was the third and final Super Moon of 2019. We also traced the shadow created by moonlight.
Shadow Survey enables us to give shape to something we cannot or normally do not see. Just as the voluminous shapes of shadows are often overlooked, so is the shape of space and time.
Left: Each string descending from the top of the surveyor’s pole marks the shadow of the pole from the Sun at 15 minute increments on the 2019 Vernal Equinox. The shadow of the pole from moonlight was also marked at 15 minute increments on the night of the 2019 Vernal Equinox.
Figure / Ground, (2019). Computer controlled light fixtures, 46"x46"x6".
Representing a figure in relation to a horizon, the two light fixtures that make up Figure / Ground flash at very similar but slightly different frequencies. The subsequent phasing of the two lights evoke questions surrounding time as cyclical (versus linear) and appearances (versus reality). As the on/off relationship between each light slowly shifts as time passes, a disorienting rhythm emerges, disrupting one's awareness of directional time and space. Additionally, it calls into question or abilities to perceive if two things are indeed synchronized or only appear to be given our limited durational perspective.
Hypercube, No. 1, (2019). Dry stacked styrofoam, 72”x72”x72”.
Referencing Timothy Morton's ideas of Hyperobjects and the work Tony Smith's and other minimalist sculptors, Hypercube, recontextualizes shipping styrofoam by constructing a large, human sized cube.
References
Broglio, R. (2018). Upon having touched other worlds. Unpublished.
Housefield, J. (2007, October). Sites of time: Organic and geologic time in the art of Robert Smithson and Roxy Paine. Cultural Geographies, v. 14(4). 537-561.
Jacobs, A. (2015). The blind man’s stick. The New Atlantis.
Morton, T. (2010). The ecological thought. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Morris, R. (1966, October). Notes on sculpture, part 2. ArtForum. 20-23.
Tuan, Y. (2001). Time in Experiential Space. In Space and Place. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. 118-135.
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Background
I am a first year MFA student at the University of Arizona in the photo division. Prior to coming to Arizona my work was almost entirely photo based (and primarily documentary in nature). However, my practice is now expanding to include interdiscplinary/intermedia approaches.
However, my work has always been driven heavily by a sense of place, mapping, and attempting to visualize non-visible geographies and histories.
Most recently I completed a body of work in Northern New Mexico in which I explored the landscape in a multidimensional way using the camera to explore various traces within the landscape–geologic, anthropologic, etc.–that are not immedaitely or readily visible.
Interest in James Turrell
My initial interest in James Turrell stems from early viewings of his work and the impressions they left on me. Specifically, experiencing his vaulted skypscapes (Dividing the Light, Pomona College, California & Meeting, MoMA PS1, New York) and seeing his 2013/2014 retrospective at LACMA. It was at this LACMA retrospective that I frst learned of Roden Crater.
As a photograher, I find his interest in light both fascinating and compelling. Most specifcally, his ability to sculpt light–either natural or artificial–into space(s) in such a way to simultaneously dazzle and ground the viewer. His work is incredibily complex in its creation and delivery, however, the experience for the viewer is elegently simple and transcendent.
Although I am excited to visit Roden Crater and learn more about Turrell and his work, I am particulary interested this semester to explore his work in more depth with regard to my specific research interests (outlined below).
Research Interests & Question(s)
My primary research interest at the moment is exploring the idea of permutations and the application of permutations to various materials, situations, and contexts. This includes everything from patterns and shapes (Tangrams for example) to the encoding of digital data–but also encompasses algorithms, random walks, group theory, systems of language, genetics/DNA, encryption, etc.
In conjunction with this overarching theme that is directing my practice and current research, I am also very interested in thinking about time, both in the abstract as well as it relates to differing time scales, e.g. human time vs. geologic time vs. nuclear time. For example, Trevor Paglen's Trinity Cube and Timothy Morton's hyperobjects both conjure up multiple ideas and questions relating to time, (as do stars, both near and far, as wellas the bristlecone pine tree).
Turrell's use of light fascinates me, but perhaps more compelling is his use of space. In a way, he uses light to sculpt space so as to reveal what is already present but not visible. I summarize from Munroe: for Turrell, empty space is solid and filled and never empty...transmuting void into substance.
Thus, I am very interested in durational works as well as land based works; time and space might be seen as two sides of the same coin. I am interested in making both concrete works as well smaller, exercises that explore these themes and ideas.
I am also very interested in mapping, be it objective/scientific or subjective/cultural in nature, and how various differing topographies of a place overlap and intersect.
Artists of Interest
Richard Long
Richard Serra
Andy Goldsworthy
Trevor Paglen (Trinity Cube, Orbital Reflector)
Sol Lewitt (variations)
Bruce Nauman
Robert Smithson
Francis Alÿs (When Faith Moves Mountains, Sometimes Makign Something Leads to Nothing)
Sophie Calle (Voir La Mer)
Bibliography
Housefield, J. (October 2007). Sites of Time: Organic and Geologic Time in the Art of Robert Smithson and Roxy Paine. Cultural Geographies, v. 14(2).
Kiebel, S. J., Daunizeau, J., & Friston, K. J. (2008). A Hierarchy of Time-Sacles and the Brain. PLoS Computational Biology, v. 4(11).
Morton, T. (2010). The Ecological Thought. Harvard University Press.
Morton, T. (2013). Hyperobjects. University of Minnesota Press.
Tsing, A. L. (2017). The Mushroom at the End of the World. Princeton University Press.
Vaughan, L. (2009). Walking the Line: Affectively Understanding and Communicating Complexity of Place. The Cartographic Journal, v. 46(4).
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