Experiments in the Fourth Dimension

This is a series of experiments in time, using variable exposure periods in the photographs to explore how different actions occur over time, becoming visible and invisible, distinct and indistinct. Each experiment was photographed at 1/1000th, 1/100th, 1/10th of a second, 1 and 10 seconds, and 1 minute. In each of the experiments, different characteristics of the actions being taken are revealed over the varying intervals of time.

Anchoring all the experiments is the hypercube, a theoretical four dimensional object, which can be represented in three dimensions in much the same way a three dimensional cube can be drawn in two dimensions.

Experiment 1

In this sequence a group of balls move through the space; at the shortest and longest intervals of time the balls appear completely stationary, while in between their motion is revealed.

Experiment 2

In this sequence a light bulb swings through the space; as the periods of time become longer the full motion of the bulb is revealed.

Experiment 3

In this sequence a figure moves through the space; in the intermediate periods of time the points of the body that linger the longest while walking are highlighted, and eventually the figure vanishes entirely in a blur of motion.

Experiment 4

In this sequence the hypercube itself becomes a time machine, existing at different points in time and space, captured and brought to the present in video recordings. Those recordings themselves then become subject to the time experiments, with both the technical aspects of the video displays revealed in shorter time periods, and the actions occurring in the video footage subject to distortions of time in the longer periods.