untitled (spin)

untitled (spin)
video monitor, DVD player, motor
2005

To make this video, I mounted a camera to a high RPM motor to the ceiling of my studio. I turned the camera on, turned on the motor, then laid down on the studio floor, allowing the spinning motor to capture my still self. This resulted in a video of me spinning at high RPM. The next step was to mount a video monitor and DVD player to the same motor, facing up from the floor. I reversed the video recording, so the rotational direction was reversed. Now, the monitor could be spinning quickly in one direction and the video playing back was spinning quickly in the opposite direction at nearly the same speed, resulting in the cancellation of movement; the image of me was now essentially still. One aspect that was most interesting to me was how this procedure amplified the noise and variation between one thing and its near opposite - the blur of the background, the soft focus of my image, the slight drift as the rotational speeds varied slightly, all subtle details that could now be seen very clearly.