The Slow Torque of Bonsai, 2017
Mixed media
Four modified 4-inch black-and-white video monitors with projection lenses, five strobe lights, video demultiplexer, HD media player, HD media file, Tone decoders, two speakers, controlled ambient light, assorted wiring.
Dimensions: variable based on site
Edition of two and one artist’s proof
Description forthcoming
Note: posted in an anteroom adjacent to the installation space
This installation takes place in pitch-black darkness with intermittent flashes of light but with no strobe light effects. The work is 30 minutes in length with a 5-minute pause until the next runtime begins. During the pause, the space and waiting area are illuminated and it is recommended to come and go at this time. The artist recognizes that the average viewing time of art is 2-3 seconds and asking for 30 minutes is relatively extreme. Nevertheless, the maximal experience involves a process of slow accumulation within the neurological and physiological frames of each viewer. You are of course free to come and go as necessary, in which case follow the florescent tape on the floor while being mindful of the experience of other visitors. Please close the door behind you. Thank you
An example of this work was exhibited for the first time at Out of Sight, 115 S Jackson Street, Seattle, August 3–27, 2017
"Gary Hill: Always Rings Twice," WEST, Den Haag, The Netherlands, February 16 – May 13, 2018.
"Greater Taipei Biennial of Contemporary Art: SNAPS OMNI EXPO," NTUA/Our Museum, November 8, 2019 – January 12, 2020.
Note: each spoken line is separated by approximately thirty seconds intervals
Sometimes
As we approach
Others approaching
An imaginary point coalesces
Before us
Our past trajectories
All the protagonists
All of a sudden
Amongst us
Resurrected as it were
Our whereabouts
The involuntary inventory begins
Sampled earth
Unknown holes
Literal things too numerous to name
Reminiscent of ancient signs
Too sober to absorb
The slow torque of bonsai
The warmth of what once was
Just enough
Fades away
Alone in the light
Abandoned wood avails itself
I brought you here for reasons I can’t disclose
I’ve worked long hours for this
There is no particular agenda in mind
Nothing here will make or break
Anything
You, them, or I
Each and every one
Like tormented insects
By the end it will not matter
Or you will have forgotten
The differences once sworn by
I hesitated
Before deciding
Not to be present
No doubt, a compromise
I apologize
Do you remember?
The bed
The island
The refuge
The swollen details
Shared memorabilia
Human propaganda
The fact that you are here
Has that dawned on you?
But don’t go
I wish there were a way
For you to smell my belly for the first time
All over again
I could stand before you
Peer down at the crown of your head
We could have gone to see a film
Committed to the tedium of plagiarized time
Enabling our being together
Within our separate thoughts
Would it suffice?