Nocturne (perhaps), cut paper, tape, ink, looped video and sound, projector, fluorescent light. 2011

In Nocturne (perhaps) I was interested in exploring ideas surrounding the experience of wilderness, and desires for synthesized wilderness-like experiences, especially pertaining to the effects of our ideas of nature on the realm of sleep.

I gathered video footage during twilight hours from around the edges of our village, places that acted as seams between town and woods, between civilization and nature. I also included footage of interior moments, such as bedtime rituals set against the backdrop of a starry night sky which is projected onto the bedroom ceiling (by a ladybug nightlight). The audio is comprised of live recordings from the sites where the video was taken, interlaced with "relaxing nature sounds" from a Discovery Channel™ white noise machine.

The cut paper presents an intervention into the cone-like pyramid emanating from the video projector, playing with scale and focus, the silhouettes, held pendulously by tape move in response to drafts; including those caused by the movements of viewers in the space and, in a kind of self perpetuating manner, the fan of the projector itself. The resultant shadows retain a plasticity that mimics the dream-like quality of twilight. The imagery is based on memories of camping and the important task of creating lists of items to bring on camping trips.