N
Nida Art Colony, Nida, Lithuania
December 2024
Photo and Video Installation (Single Channel); 1.30 minutes
Opening-Performers: Ayse Idil, Despina Sanida-Krezia, Egle A. Benkunskytė, Hannah van der Schaaf, Helena Estrela, Javier Rodriguez Perez, Liam Warren, Magdalena Beliavska

What would you burn?
N article >

In the stillness of night, the sky invites observation with scattered trees around and a mountain shaping the distant skyline. If we were to stand in the same location for a whole month observing the moon, a pattern would eventually appear. Think of a timelapse photo of these movements in the sky, and it might seem as if the moon dances with its moonrise times and positions shifting as phases evolve. Observing the moon’s phases in this way, from new moon to full and back again, reveals a shape that can abstractly resemble the letter N. Think of a visual poem, a symbol, the letter N formed with strokes drawn both from the bottom up and the top down, with a single diagonal line cutting through the verticals. This simple shape reflects a connectivity between two parallels, much like how memory moves between past and future passing through the tunnel of the present. The act of writing the letter from the bottom up, going against the natural pull of gravity, symbolizes the human ability to reach back into memory while simultaneously moving forward into unknown futures. The crossing line, in this context, becomes a metaphor for the meeting point of these two directions in time, merging into a single, unified form that exists in both realms at once; the present. How time is experienced can resemble this letter’s pattern, and in regarding observation of the phenomenon, what if we change our position? Yes, depending on the location, the visual changes will be different. But how about our feelings and experiences in various spaces? In so doing, the observational shift emphasizes the active engagement of consciousness with the environment.

Video Still

On-Site Photos: Hannah van der Schaaf and Ivor Glavaš

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