Experiment #2 <The Lamplighter>
When I was in the middle of the experiment, I felt like I am the lamplighter in <The Little Prince> --- "a lamplighter who takes no time for himself" and of course the man who just blindly follow the "orders" from higher up or somewhere else.
For the first experiment, I took videos and photos of 13 different posts. When I put those images and videos together I started to feel them and they all seems have their own personality. Then I wondering, how they feel? What can they see? Do they feel lonely sometimes? So I decide to join them, feel the feeling of being a post, see from their perspective. Therefore, I put my phone on a selfie stick and raise up high to record the street view from the post outside my apartment. Continue for 12 hours and record only 1 minute per hr, from same angle same position (I tried to hold it stably)
What I saw, What I thought :
6pm: The neighbor, the tattoo guy and his wife walked out the door, glanced at me quickly and walked straight ahead towards their direction.
7pm: A car passed by, filled with teenagers; they stared back at me with strange expression, they shut their car window tightly, so I couldn’t hear their laughter or the conversation between them.
8pm: It was too dark. Few cars. My eyes were not focused. A pile of blur. Leaving only shadow and lamplight behind.
9pm: The rain wasn’t big, but the sensation of raindrops was strong and clear. The passenger rode their bikes with flashing back lights, rushing to their destination.
10pm: The rain hasn’t stopped. The camera tilted forward like bowed down head.
11pm: The crowd became fewer. The pregnant woman passed and smiled at me.
12pm: On both sides of the street, the house lights gradually faded away and snuffed out.
1am: I want to know. During this long night, how are you?
2am: Very sleepy
3am: I suddenly remember the lamplighter from the Little Prince, Chapter 14, the 5th Planet.
4am: I saw two cockroaches climbed over you. But you stood still.
5am: I asked you. Are you tired?
6am: Finally sunrise and morning, but why are the passengers so emotionless?
At 3am, I started talking to myself, and at 4am I want some conversation with YOU!
During this consecutive 12-hours filming, my sense of time became blurry and unclear/ambiguous during the break or rest in each hour. Initially, I thought I would only need to endure 12 hours physically. But nighttime passes more quickly than daytime. After about 30 minutes, when I am ready to go home after each hour of filming, I realized a repetition of habit began. Arriving home, I would take the phone away from the selfie stick. Put the earphones, keys and lighter down on the table and walk towards the work desk and connect my iPhone to export the video onto Adobe Premiere. Then, I would possibly pour a cup of water, go to the bathroom or have some snacks or light a ciggy then come back to the table and organize the data, go on the Internet, reply messages or look at videos on YouTube. Then I lift my head up to look at the time. Realizing, it’s nearly time for another round of filming.
Time flies quickly; it makes me feel nervous. Anxious. This is the side effect of time. Simultaneously, we need time to separate the events in each period. Then. I remembered the lamplighter.
On our daily basis, we repeat; Start and Finish. We repeat; Rise and Fall. We repeat; Departure and Arrival. But insufficient time to look at “me”…… (Lamplighter continued)
During the 12 hours, the strange thing is that every time towards the end of filming, I would hear sound of motion outside the house or music from the passing cars or the sounds of party animals finishing their nightlife. But when I start to film, there is only few people passing by. Therefore every time there is sound of any motion, I have the urge and impulse to leave the house to film immediately instead of the set time because I wanted to have change in the events or content of the video. When I think about it now, it’s a stupid idea. Substance (people, events, or things) should exist in the form at the natural moment of occurrence and encountering; instead of deliberately or purposely encountering the “random occasion”.
references artists：
http://www.denisbeaubois.com/RED%20LIGHT%20camera%20Portrait.html
http://www.denisbeaubois.com/The%20Accidental%20contract2.html
http://www.billviola.com/
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