The performance, titled Lag, deals with plural temporality of the medium, challenging the traditional understanding of the relationship between performance and its documentation (where the former ontologically precedes and, hence, authorizes the latter). Lag comprises a looped video projection on a paper screen stretched on a wooden frame. The video itself is a digital recording of manual, repeated, piercing of a previously projected white background using a needle. The ensuing image is projected on a new paper screen, then perforated again using the same needle. The performance involves the repetition of the same action in an attempt to recreate the needle punches in the projected video. The trace left behind by this act of destruction now allows the light to pass through, creating a secondary image on the wall behind it.
The activity is essentially linear and defined by said repetition, while correctness is the only reliable way of controlling the output of such a delicate manual effort, given that a slightest deviation will affect the appearance of the final result. The minimal changes in appearance between the projected video and the freshly perforated screen further emphasize the temporal dependence of the creative process. The inability to recreate an identical copy of the original punching trail and pace demonstrates the volatility of one’s perception of time with respect to the video as a time-based medium. Upon the completion of the performance, the setup and the end result (the video projection, the perforated screen, and the projection on the wall behind the screen) are left as a self sufficient installation. The video continues playing on a loop and now seems to be lagging behind the physical trace of the needle.
Lag is about the present, even though it is made of fragments of the past. The viewer is invited to engage with the time as it goes by, but without a reference to the real-world time of day. As it moves from digital to analog, and intangible to tangible, and back, this work explores both the transformation of the underlying medium through light, sound, and matter; and the notions of memory and time.
