Beyond the Shadow, 1992
white "pen" sand (formerly used in hotel ash trays), high intensity miniature lights, poetry, video projection. The images seem to be crumbling, the sound becomes increasingly ominous, brooding tension builds and the tension develops to the point where it reads: 'One of us had to hit first, cushioning the other. And it happened to be me... I implode quietly.' With a burst of sound and imagery, we, like Icarus, fall crashing back to Earth. - Janet Tyson, Fort Worth Star Telegram |
Beyond the Shadow is a metaphor for the dissolution of a relationship and is based on a poem written by Elaine Todd Sewell when she was sixteen years old. As two people fall from an airplane, the poet realizes it will be she who hits the ground first:
Oh, look, here it is.
The ground.
We ignored it as long as we could
refusing to see the tiny shadow on the map
that would sometime be home.
But now its presence has become painfully obvious.
no mountains or rivers or icebergs
or anything
just a silent desolate flatness
focused on the dilating spot.
One of us had to hit first,
cushioning the other,
and it happened to be me.
I wish you as much luck next time.
the flat brown and flat blue merge
i implode quietly.
The video component of the work consists of images filmed by a skydiving cameraman, the text of the poem, and earth views as recorded by Landsat satellites. Approximately seven hours of film footage was borrowed from NASA, and images that dealt with the suggestion or sensation of falling were culled. These images were passed through a video digitizer to transform the film into small squares and the result was colorized. Not only did this achieve the desired abstracting effect, but also it masked undesirable technical problems with the films: scratches, dust, and the occasional jumpiness caused by the film projection loop being too small during the transfer of the film to video. The text of Ms. Sewell's poem appears in the video as a visual element.
Radio transmissions, electro-magnetic, and various other types of radiant energy are ever-present in our atmosphere, a medium that to human observers appears to be relatively uninhabited. Hundreds of dramas between pilots and control tower personnel are carried out in the skies over airports every day. With radio operator K05P, several hours' worth of radio transmissions were recorded at Houston's Intercontinental Airport to create the sound track for Beyond the Shadow. The sounds used in the edited version of these transmissions start with a pilot communicating his altitude. The video continues with various pilots communicating their altitudes, descending from 6,000 feet to point of impact. Also included in the sound track are wind noises altered in post-production.
The pattern of lights on the floor is a simulation of the Nantucket, Massachusetts, airport.
Beyond the Shadow was installed at the University of Texas at Arlington as part of their 1992 Center for Research and Contemporary Art (CRCA) series. A companion publication was produced. Funding was partially provided by the Independent Production Fund, a National Endowment for the Arts/American Film Institute program.
Oh, look, here it is.
The ground.
We ignored it as long as we could
refusing to see the tiny shadow on the map
that would sometime be home.
But now its presence has become painfully obvious.
no mountains or rivers or icebergs
or anything
just a silent desolate flatness
focused on the dilating spot.
One of us had to hit first,
cushioning the other,
and it happened to be me.
I wish you as much luck next time.
the flat brown and flat blue merge
i implode quietly.
The video component of the work consists of images filmed by a skydiving cameraman, the text of the poem, and earth views as recorded by Landsat satellites. Approximately seven hours of film footage was borrowed from NASA, and images that dealt with the suggestion or sensation of falling were culled. These images were passed through a video digitizer to transform the film into small squares and the result was colorized. Not only did this achieve the desired abstracting effect, but also it masked undesirable technical problems with the films: scratches, dust, and the occasional jumpiness caused by the film projection loop being too small during the transfer of the film to video. The text of Ms. Sewell's poem appears in the video as a visual element.
Radio transmissions, electro-magnetic, and various other types of radiant energy are ever-present in our atmosphere, a medium that to human observers appears to be relatively uninhabited. Hundreds of dramas between pilots and control tower personnel are carried out in the skies over airports every day. With radio operator K05P, several hours' worth of radio transmissions were recorded at Houston's Intercontinental Airport to create the sound track for Beyond the Shadow. The sounds used in the edited version of these transmissions start with a pilot communicating his altitude. The video continues with various pilots communicating their altitudes, descending from 6,000 feet to point of impact. Also included in the sound track are wind noises altered in post-production.
The pattern of lights on the floor is a simulation of the Nantucket, Massachusetts, airport.
Beyond the Shadow was installed at the University of Texas at Arlington as part of their 1992 Center for Research and Contemporary Art (CRCA) series. A companion publication was produced. Funding was partially provided by the Independent Production Fund, a National Endowment for the Arts/American Film Institute program.
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