A kinetic sculpture that moves forward and back in time. Historically, this work looks back to the late eighteenth and first half of the nineteenth century. When, as part of their education, many budding artists travelled to Rome to study the Eternal city. Following a well established route of pilgrimage, they painted proto-photographic views of Rome and the surrounding countryside. The vocabulary of photorealism here isn’t coincidental but a deliberate reference to this era of innovation when the conventions of painting influenced the development of modern photography. And visa versa. In his book, Before Photography (MOMA, 1981), author Peter Galassi explores this brackish interface in depth and informed my approach. Although I didn’t know it at the time, this work was also to prophetically point to a future of post-analog streaming when the viewer could, instead, remain stationary as the world flows past on a digital display.
See also related works Sacred Versus Profane, Duomo, Konomie Dulce et Decorum and The Other Alexandria. Materials: steel hardware, electric motor and multiple oil on timber panels. Dimensions in meters: 2.2hx1.3wx6L. Exhibited in Toronto,1993 and London UK, 1994. This work was generously supported by a Canada Arts Council Explorations Grant in 1992.
