timeXposure: explorations in time, space and movement

As I began this body of work, I had an opportunity to photograph the early megalithic sites of Stonehenge and Avebury and consider how they were used for political, religious and social ceremony. Although originally a distillation of content comprehensive to an entire community, there is no longer cultural consensus regarding the meaning of these structures or the inherently abstract symbols they portray, such as the circle, spiral and labyrinth. “Symbols, energy-inducing placement and celestial orientations well-known to prehistoric ‘artists’ have become abstract to us in the broadest and emptiest sense.”1. Their powerful presence is undeniable, but their basic connection to human identity is lost.

Although we now have considerably more empirical knowledge than at any other point in history, we understand little more of the mysteries of life and death, time and space than our prehistoric ancestors did. Our art comes not from shared experience or common comprehension, but is unique and idiosyncratic, an expression of the individual. We yearn for connection, but we are essentially alone.

This series of work, 28″ x 22″, focuses on how we explore the unknown and master our fears. It incorporates symbols, plans for computing devices, molecular drawings, celestial maps, astrological charts and photographs of places of power. Although technology is accused of being “dehumanizing”, it is the medium through which I attempt to express these most human of needs. The ability to dissect disparate views of reality and interlace them into a cohesive representation of a new vision. is empowering. These densely layered lenticular images are my way of attempting to understand and express the forces which impact our lives. They celebrate the individual’s search for meaning in a largely incomprehensible universe.

An explanation of the creation of Primordial Fear is included in the Process section.

The woman in the timeXposure series is Linda Serafin, photographed by Jan Doucette.

1. Lippard, Lucy R., Overlay: Contemporary Art and the Art of Prehistory. New York: The New Press, 1983, p 11.