My final project is an extension of my interest in the subject of time. Previously, I focused on time perception, challenging its relevance through the awareness of the self and the ego. From the feedback of the last work, I aimed to deter from explicit narratives, towards a more implicit mediation on the subject of time. For most of this project, I struggled a lot with how to develop my art practice in relation to previous works. Ultimately, I decided to explore time perception in the context of memory. I began theoretical research (an intrinsic aspect of my process) of memory, relative to temporal perception and experience. I wanted to explore how temporal experience in memory recollection is stretched or compressed in comparison to the actual event in real-time. Furthermore, memory is constantly updating (Tronson & Taylor, 2007) and so should be considered as flexible networks that respond and reform over time and experience, almost in an interactive way.

I often love to explore new and challenging mediums, simultaneously learning and exploring their potential. With limited knowledge of coding language, I first began learning to code an interactive WebGL. Later I discovered TouchDesigner, a node-based visual programming language for interactive multimedia works. It was a language I could grasp quicker and I began to teach myself through YouTube and other online resources. I chose motion to fuel and shape my work, using a camera to capture and feed data back into the programme. Motion triggers the change of bodies of people, switching between two rendered videos of people walking past in real-time versus slow-motion, representing the fluctuation between memory and real-time events. Through TD, I created a form of generative art as the image of people are transformed into particle entities that are randomly (through algorithm) distorted and fragmented. Here, I struggled with what image and how to represent a collective memory.  Superimposed on top, structures of a geographical environment move across the screen in a continuous loop, as a form of reference to a memory that most people can relate to. This is to juxtapose the fluctuating images of people, appearing and disappearing, triggered by the viewer’s interactions. Real-time camera input is also used to reveal outlines of the participant, as traces of their movements are imprinted onto the screen ever so slightly before disappearing. The trails of motion comment on the subject of short-term memory and its impermanence. The work is titled ‘Traces’, exhibited as an interactive single-video channel projection with a camera and speakers.

Layers of the work reveal the nature of memory and its overlapping tendencies, making it harder to distinguish between different memories. My work is dependent on interactivity and engagement to activate the work. Viewers are encouraged to interact with the work in their own way to form their own narratives and interpretations. I was inspired by new media artists such as Camille Utterback, taking inspiration from her use of digital tools to create interactive installations. She often uses the motion of the audience to portray a sense of time, like in her works Precarious (2018) and Liquid Time Series (2000 – 2002). Bill Viola is another artist that explores time as a subject in their practice, notably in his work Going Forth by Day (2002) which explores the cycles of birth, death and rebirth. I was inspired by the uninterrupted flow of people that portrays the sense of passing time which I reproduced within my work.

I encountered plenty of technical issues throughout this project, which was exacerbated as I was working remotely, with no access to studios. However, I am proud of the work that I produced with a programme that I have never used before. I enjoyed working on TD and found it interesting to see how people react and engage with my work in the exhibition space. To critique the work for future improvements, I would have liked to project on the entire length of the wall, as the motion switches would have been more evident when displayed on a wider scale. However, the technicalities of interactivity are still impressive and tangible in the installation.