Water Unspoken

David Carlson

January 6th through February 16th, 2023

Gallery Hours - Wednesday through Sunday: 12-5pm

ARTIST STATEMENT

Water Unspoken

Flow, Confluence, Cyrcle, Water in the Sky

The natural rhythmic flow hypnotizes.

Through video, I isolate water from its natural surroundings and place it into circumstance that opens the audience to a state of receptivity and thought not normally associated with water.  Images form a bridge between the consciousness of the water and the consciousness of the viewer.  I don’t tame the water. It is uncontrolled except for compositional placement, contrast and time shifts.  Improvising, to isolate, as to see the quiddity of the water within the space is the objective.

Contemplation becomes integral to the creation of this work. I have stared at the essence long enough to be captured by the ephemeral trance, stillness within movement. The simple act of observation without preconception gives space to take in the moment exactly as it is without filters, judgment or projection.  Metaphor gets erased because I merge with the moment and understand I am not so different to that which I am observing. Zen.

The ‘digital’ second step, capturing initial footage for the building and editing process. Composition serves as another means for contemplation. What am I / we seeing?  It is non-water ‘elements’ embraced by the water such as; color, texture, light, opacity, objects, wind, everything that is not water. It is through the act of looking that we see our reflection.  Not in a literal sense, but in a new way. Erwin Schroedinger, who developed important results in the field of quantum theory, presented the thought:

Consciousness is a singular of which the plural is unknown and what appears to be the plurality is merely a series of different aspects of this one thing.

Complexities of circumstance in such an element are almost infinite and yet water at its core remains connected by its simple essence. Through video juxtaposition, creating tension and flow within design allow the viewer, in time, to follow the changing qualities and inherent complexity.

While I am working, the process generates more questions than when I began.  How, do we relate or connect with the water?  What effect does the water have on us?  At this point we are not using the water for thirst, washing, flushing, pleasure or vehicle; instead we are looking, taking it in. An interesting paradox happens, by turning the tables by becoming the observer we are the sponge, we become the water.     

In the digital studio I choose the diverse qualities to create visual tension for the four videos. Flow, a grid composition based on the rectangle serves as the initial compositional ground for the tension between movement and stillness. Confluence uses the circle for structure. Fixed circles appear to move with the water, but this is just an illusion due to the offset placement. In Cyrcle another circular composition, I explore miniature and expansive waterfalls in the Adirondacks. For the last work Water in the Sky I revisited the rectangular model for the composition. The central image, nine different views float on a blue surface.  

Tension and visual interplay between the different videos becomes the underlying concept for the four channel room installation titled Water Unspoken.  Each of the videos, use original footage for the color, texture and space, which in turn allow the viewer the choice to sit within a work or shift back and forth between the diverse images.