Tesse's proposal for a project that may or may not be made

Original:

This proposal is for a project that delves into nature’s instances of cyclical time, complicated by the (my) human reflex to make this linear or progressive (productive). It will most likely take the shape of a mid-length documentary, or otherwise a multi-channel installation.

I want to explore this to reconceptualise the experience of time and to see how our lives and minds are often structured according to a temporality that deviates from nature’s flux. It is an exercise for both the viewer and myself to allow things to come and go without feeling the need to hold on. To not feel like we are standing still when we aren’t actively going forward.

I will search for instances that visualise nature’s cyclical time, such as the leaves changing colour, the trees shedding, the waves coming and going, the moon changing phases. I will perform (and film) scenes that express the need to hold on to things, such as tying fallen leaves back to the trees, tracing the lines of the waves on the sand. These scenes will perhaps be combined with a more textual/vocal/anecdotal/theoretical exploration of time, such as scientific perspectives, biological expressions, or a clockmaker describing how watches work. These different elements will be presented either next to each other as a body of research, or will be combined on one screen in a form that allows the viewer to reflect on, but also feel how the time is passing.

Rodolfo's questions:

What do I mean with cyclical time? (although this becomes clearer after) What would the multi-channel installation be made of/look like? What do these performances look like? Why the scientific perspectives? How relevant is that? Last sentence is maybe more what than how

Revised version:

This proposal is for a project that delves into nature’s instances of time being cyclical, complicated by the (my) human reflex to make this time linear or progressive (productive). It will most likely take the shape of a mid-length documentary, or otherwise a multi-channel installation with the different scenes shown on separate screens.

I want to explore this to reconceptualise the experience of time and to see how our lives and minds are often structured according to a temporality that deviates from nature’s flux. It is an exercise for both the viewer and myself to allow things to come and go without feeling the need to hold on. To not feel like we are standing still when we aren’t actively going forward.

I will search for (and capture in image and sound) instances that visualise nature’s cyclical time, such as the leaves changing colour, the trees shedding, the waves coming and going, the moon changing phases. I will then perform (and film) scenes in those environments that express the need to hold on to things, such as tying fallen leaves back to the trees, tracing the lines of the waves on the sand. These scenes will perhaps be combined with a more textual/vocal/anecdotal/theoretical exploration of time, such as expressions of biological cycles, or a clockmaker describing how watches work. As a next step in the sound, these informational parts would be combined with atmospheric soundscapes (and perhaps even musique concrète) made from the sounds recorded in nature. The last step would be to decide whether these elements I have collected will be presented next to each other as a body of research, or whether I will edit them together on one screen in a form that allows the viewer to reflect on, but also feel how the time is passing.

Rapid prototypes related to this proposal:

1. Draw as many circles as you can on one paper without having the lines touch.

2. Make/find three videos of the same measured time but with a different experienced time.