Only a memory
Crystalline medicine
On the midway
The illuminated Ferris Wheel stands-out on an inclement night, revolving against the storm clouds. A change of pace in the weather is refreshing and can be both a spiritual and contemplative experience.
“I think a myth is created from truth.” – Mark Lanegan
Quench thirst
Carnival panache
Bottled drinks
Not anywhere near a significant body of water, a carnival midway amusement lighthouse forfeits its navigational purpose.
“A lighthouse is for others; powerless to illuminate the space closest to it.” – M.L. Steadman
Smooth warm
Slightly distorted
Tonal coloration
Enveloped by the night, the visual horizon is reduced to the near environment.
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
On the journey
Hushed dream
Away rushing
Oblique angles in a moving landscape, things on the periphery can become subjects of central interest. Even during attention fixation, the human eye engages in indexed mini-movements of .5 degrees at 1 second intervals. Referred to as micro saccades, these small scale eye excursions help prevent visual sensation fading, maximizing persistence of vision.
“My technique has always been to include all the periphery around me.” – Martin Landau
Temporal coincidence
Hallucinatory character
Central entrance approach
Things become vaguely illusory in the carnival twilight. Key emotional related structures of the brain are sparked during active dreaming, when memories are fused and blended together in abstract and novel ways. During durational dreaming, vast swaths of acquired knowledge cogitate to extract overarching commonalties, divining elucidations to previously impenetrable conundrums.
Living on a lighted stage, approaches the unreal, for those who think and feel, in touch with some reality, beyond the gilded cage.” – Neil Peart
Loop repeat
Segments of random
Sensory attack
The point of track division is unclear, as moments in space and time are arbitrary departures.
“I didn’t realize it: it was just so funny the voice saying, ‘number nine’; it was like a joke, bringing number nine into it all the time, that’s all it was.” – John Lennon
Wet pavement
Nightly edition
Reflection enhancement
Driving in the rain down the suburban corridor, with dancing luminosities reflecting off the wet street in a durational ballet, provides surprising insights into the behavior of light. Specifically, diffuse reflection becomes specular reflection.
“To keep your truth in sight you must keep yourself in sight and the world to you should be a mirror to reflect to you your image; the world should be a mirror that you reflect upon.” – C. JoyBell C.
Ideal spectator
Operation quotient
Actions motivated
Build it and they will come only provisionally. As the transitory carnival is mostly void of patrons, the bored carnies look on with disappointment.
“This decision is reached in the moment of a glance, for the maneuvers that follow, however stealthily that moment is prolonged in them, add nothing to it, no more than their deferral of the opportunity in the second scene disrupts the unity of that moment.” – Jacques Lacan
Floodlit time
Conduct charges
Out of touch
The carnival provides a rich visual environment, especially as night falls on the exuberant festivities. Operating as an observer, the artist follows an extraordinary agenda during event encounters.
“Surrounded by this shallow, glossy society we develop a shallow side, too, and we become attracted to fluff.” – Joni Mitchell
Real property
Elevated railroad track
Permanent appendage
Large colorful artificial flowers attempt to create a vibrant environment, increasing the desirability of riding the carnival rails.
“I got my heart’s desire, and there my troubles began.” – Lev Grossman