This conceptual piece was created for the 2010 Nuit Blanche Festival and the Red Head Gallery with my wife, Glicelle. The show entitled, Insomnia 2010 ran from Sept. 29 to October 2, 2010.
Our notion of yesterday and today is separated by sleep. When we wake after a night’s rest, we understand that the events before the temporary suspension of our consciousness are our past. Everything from this moment on will be present. Sleep gives us distance from the events of the previous day and offers us a new beginning. Those who suffer from insomnia lose their sense of past and present as each day blends into the next. Its incessant nature erodes the psychological buffer sleep affords us and cheats us out of our chance to heal.
Except for some medications, insomnia is usually due to the accumulation of everyday problems. Unresolved issues, worries, the adrenaline from the day, etc. Individually they are harmless, but together, they overwhelm, suffocate, and disorient – much like the properties of the foam. Bubbles on their own are harmless, but as foam, they overwhelm, suffocate and disorient.
Laundry detergent was mixed with household bleach, and the corrosive concoction made the patterned impression it left on the paper.
Medium: Bleach on Foamcore (Framed)