“Space” and “time” modify each other. In contemporary video art, perception of “space” is established by the chronological sequence of scenes. “Time”, meanwhile, is enriched by cramming it with spatial experience. In modern society, however, perception of time, as part of any video-viewing experience, can be accelerated or decelerated, reversed or dwelt upon, vaulted in each direction. The juxtaposition of scenes produces associative visual images in the mind of the viewers. Likewise, several sequences of time may be compressed into a single visual text. As a result, different emotional sensations are attached to spatial positions -- moving upward, downward, frontward or backward. Undoubtedly, as demonstrated by Paul Virilio, the sense of speed created by modern video technology is a symbol of power. Conquest promises outright supersession; speed secures commanding power. Such command of power, obtained by speed, is what Virilio called dromocratie. Put simply, dromocratie sweeps away everything (scene). It also erases the social connections between people. Against a "speed-is-all" backdrop, perception of temporal and spatial distance is re-measured by digital media technology. Virilio considered "acceleration" as the core of technological advancement. On temporal dimensions, transmission of information is shortened to the extreme. On spatial dimensions, almost all physical spaces can be reached via communication technologies. "The other place" easily becomes "another place". That is to say, modern media technology has decisively altered our perception of time and space, which has fallen victim to destructive obliteration. Consequently, our sense of time/space is no longer the same.
Titled Pause in Time and Space, this exhibition explores "pause" as a temporary suspension of a narrative process. After each transition, every narrative, scene and position becomes somewhat different. What awaits us at the crossroads ahead? Adopting various "fragmentary narrative" strategies, all artworks distort the entirety of the visual rhetoric and narrative context, forming peculiar pauses or durées in different directions. Through the creation of "flowing poetry," made possible in these artworks with moving images, viewers are able to read the distinct syntactic and semantic relations so as to feel the discontinuity in time and space.

*image (left)
Visitor, 2010
video, sound, color, 7'11"
© Wang Ya-Hui

Courtesy of Digital Art Center