Here is a time lapse photo record of the gallery opening of British artist Philip Lunn's piece "24 Hours". Philip constructed an installation of 24 computer screens, each connected to a person in one of the earth's 24 time zones. Gallery visitors could pick up a phone and talk to any of the 24 through Skype. I volunteered to hold down the Alaska spot. The screens were arranged to approximate geography with the far East being the extreme right and the far West on the extreme left. Alaska is second from far left, up high.
I had pleasant conversations with a number of visitors. There was a stool for them to stand on, but it was still difficult to see more than the tops of their heads. Philip hopes to reprise the piece in the future, I hope he'll have taller stools! This was Philip's thesis piece for his MFA. He was awarded the Dean's prize. For more about this work, go to Philip's Website and follow the 24 hours link. The film is ©2010 Philip Lunn.
cool idea cool page peter awesome
ReplyDeleteDuke
I like the idea of this project, the realtime global perspective, the involvement of non-professionals. But his Website and the video pieces I saw there didn't do a whole lot for me. What you have here--which I'm guessing is some clip from the other--is far more effective. I believe I saw you in that monitor, too.
ReplyDeleteOne of the interesting things about the project is that for all the techo-miraculous whiz-bangery involved, when it came time to interact, we brought our everyday selves to the encounter and made superficial chit-chat like strangers at a mixer.
ReplyDeleteThe installation stimulated many thoughts for me about time, technology, and geography. But my actual experience was limited to banal exchanges about the time and the weather. Wherever you go, there you are.
It's a little like the wonders of high-definition broadcasting we built so we can watch "Jackass". The technology is far ahead of the experience.
... I bet it was the person on the other side of the camera who asked you about the weather in Alaska. ... "we brought our everyday selves to the encounter and made superficial chit-chat like strangers at a mixer." ... So true. The amygdala has not caught up to the cortex. Maybe never will. But this is still an interesting idea--sort of like the army of photographers who headed out to shoot as much of America as they could in 24 hours.
ReplyDelete