Nothing Staid
Nothing Staid
2011
100-page black and white book, 3-minute video loop, monitor, shelf
18”H x 30”W X 8”D
Collaboration with Isa Gagarin
Based on The Waves by Virginia Woolf, Nothing Staid articulates the repetition of life experience. Lines from the story that relate to life cycles and loss of self are repeated throughout the book, creating a chant-like poem. Woolf’s writing structure couples long narrative with short interruptions full of simile and description. That rhythm is followed in the video through quiet and repetitive footage, interrupted abruptly by patterns. The book provides a continuous commentary. We were intrigued by the way the meditative quality of repetition could also be a form of emptying out, the way nothingness can be meaningful.
Who is the speaker? Is it the reader of the text? Where is the “I”? Is it in the handwritten type, or the occasional figure in the video? The lull of the wave gives way to moments of sharp recognition. The piece invites immersion at the same time that it positions the viewer as an observer.
The 5 spreads below are repeated over a hundred pages, making its own wave pattern of information.
I hear nothing.
That is only the murmur of the waves in the air.
I often fall down into nothingness.
I must push my foot stealthily lest I should fall off the edge of the world into nothingness.
There is nothing staid, nothing settled in this universe.
All is rippling.
I do this, do that, and again do this and then that.
Meeting and parting, we assemble different forms, make different patterns.
Tuesday follows Monday; Wednesday, Tuesday.
Each spreads the same ripple.
Photos by Rik Sferra