the future is a distorted landscape
multi-screen installation <> A series of animated gifs
originally commissioned by Nuit Blanche Toronto 2017 for Calculating Upon the Unforeseen curated by Clara Halpern
Science fiction often suggests alternative visions for society. This multiscreen video installation takes up time travel as a political act and a way to draw attention to the failings and inequalities embedded within contemporary life.
Chronesthesia, or mental time travel, refers to the brain’s ability to remember the past while imagining the future. In essence, chronesthesia allows us to visualize the future based on our previous experiences. The more exposure we have to an experience or a particular type of event, the more likely it is that we can imagine and realize a similar event in the future. The recent discovery of gravitational waves by a team of astrophysicists in Louisiana makes the fantasy of time travel seem possible, even if not within our lifetimes. The knowledge that it might be possible to escape from the struggles unfolding worldwide (climate change, capitalism, inequality, nuclear war, racism…) offers much needed hope. This project proposes that visualizations which imagine what the future might look like, both good and bad, could offer a way to encourage the collective creation of a better one.
[the future is a distorted landscape contains about 56 gifs – here’s a few]
Documentation from Nuit Blanche Toronto:
Image by Andrew Williamson, courtesy of Nuit Blanche Toronto.
Image by Andrew Williamson, courtesy of Nuit Blanche Toronto.
Image by Andrew Williamson, courtesy of Nuit Blanche Toronto.
Image by Andrew Williamson, courtesy of Nuit Blanche Toronto.
Image by Andrew Williamson, courtesy of Nuit Blanche Toronto.
Image by Henry Chan, courtesy of Nuit Blanche Toronto.
Image by Henry Chan, courtesy of Nuit Blanche Toronto.
Image by Henry Chan, courtesy of Nuit Blanche Toronto.
Image by Henry Chan, courtesy of Nuit Blanche Toronto.
Image by Henry Chan, courtesy of Nuit Blanche Toronto.
Image C. Battle.