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Alignment
A circular disk with a simple pattern reminiscent of vines occupies the center of the screen. Several arrows point outwards from the center to the edges decorated with shapes not quite in focus. A clock face. As the video starts to run, ghostly renditions of the same object moving and being changed at different times and speeds creates a layered affected. A figure moves in and out of the screen changing hands of the clock. Often it is impossible to tell how many hands, how many layers, which hands are moving on what layer. This is the artwork video called Alignment.
What is perspective? How does one approach the idea of perspective? These concepts began to develop with the works Staged Filter and Perceptions (see below), both of which themselves explored the ideas of perspective, truth, and trust in a more concrete and connected manner. But unlike these previous projects, Alignment grapples with new questions around perspective: what it means to be aligned, or misaligned. We all have different perspectives and these will change throughout our life as we grow and learn. This project set out to capture this sense of change, growth, and alignment of our world views and opinions.
To do this the clock face brings the concept of time and thus a sense of moving through time into the project. On the other hand, the clock hands, with their simple symbols, represents general personality traits as a way of encompassing many people and thus bring the sense of an individual into the work. The use of wood reflects the traditional clock and gives a strong tie to the natural world. After the clock was designed and built, each individual video that was filmed works through patterns or the lack of patterns, spontaneity. This shows the process of time, alignment, and misalignment. The final film complicates every step taken thus far by overlaying the videos and preventing a clear view of the hands as they move. It obscures the method of movement since perspectives, as they collide both through time and space, become infinitely harder and harder to define and understand. The film hold a contrast between the digital aspect with the pixels and the nostalgic impact with the black and white quality. This tension helps to make a time based idea more timeless. The lack of sound only adds more focus to the film and every other visual decision. Alignment is about the matching of perspectives through a lifetime and beyond.
This work is made with wood, varnish, ink, and metal; 2019.