Stare

Acryclic on panel
40 x 40 cm
2023

The difference in orientation of the three arcs was a given; the portals themselves demonstrated this plainly; for a long time however, the physics involved in the travel between the arcs was a mystery to me.

The answer came, as it often does, completely by accident.

Once I had learned the fundamentals of displacement I began a long period of experimentation.

Early attempts were rudimentary and increased in complexity over time. I spent a long time exploring the repetition and structural variations of staircases; probably more time than was justifiable, upon reflection.

I had primarily practised displacement in a standing position. It felt natural. I tried a seated position, but I felt able to concentrate better while standing. After a particularly long session working on an area of enclosed staircases, I somehow lapsed to a seated position and then ended up lying on the floor I had placed earlier, with my feet against the wall. Perhaps my mind relaxed somehow from the exertion and temporarily forgot that I was horizontal, but whilst turning a staircase through ninety degrees to be placed, my natural orientation also moved through ninety degrees, like a dial being moved a quarter turn in my brain.

Perhaps as I was so tired, this didn't startle me too much, and because of this, I was able to approach the situation rather more calmly than I may have otherwise. My mind accepted that I was lying on the floor in one moment, and then standing with my back to the wall in the next.

I was able to walk four strides forward, up the wall, before my logical brain caught up with me and I fell to the floor in a heap.