Graduate Studies

Interdisciplinary Master's in Art, Media and Design (MA, MDes and MFA)

Elizabeth Lopez

timespacemattermotion - aka The Log

This work was to be exhibited, and played with, during solo thesis show planned in April 2019. It is waiting to emerge post-pandemic. This is an interactive participatory piece, where someone steps in, reaches out, and pushes the log suspended from the ceiling so it spins in space, adding their own footprints in the sand spread underneath.

“Roaming along the shoreline of Lake Ontario brought me to a compelling driftwood log, half submerged in the water. I pulled it higher onto the beach, took it in, let it dry out over weeks, and then carefully attended to it. This tree-that-was references time and mortality. The tree grew – there are the rings of seasons experienced and the knots of many branches - and then stopped. Somehow the trunk of this tree found itself in water, acted upon by waves and sand, deep grooves forming radially. Surely it floated, sank and rose again to the beach where I found it. Experimenting with different hardware for the slinging of the log, I settled on the smooth beauty of climbing gear. Rappel anchor ring, hauling swivel, carabiners, webbing and ropes – equipment designed to protect life. The log spinning in space, with silvery sides and cables, references the satellites and exploratory extensions sent to space, or even that satellite of the sun we call home. It is about how there is a beyond, beyond us, beyond our planet, beyond our time. The metal leaf along its sides emphasizes the sinuous grain lines brought out by the log’s time underwater. It reflects light, and while spinning, is shiny one instant and subdued in the next, marking a durational experience, timespacemattermotion*. The log will spin over nine minutes, depending on the initializing impetus, starting fairly fast, maybe a bit wobbly, but quickly stabilizing and slowing to a languid sweep. Then it slows to an almost-still movement. It is in those moments that contemplation grows. The sand spread below the log, and below our feet, records our presence and our trajectory around the log. When we walk away, we track some of the sand with us into our lives. And footsteps in the sand – until obliterated by more footsteps or the clearing sweep of the waves and wind, are powerful indices of those there before us. Perhaps seeing the evidence of others, footsteps in the sand may further suggest that interaction with the work is welcome.*this title references Karan Barad's "timespacematter" discussed for instance in her Transmatterialities essay”