I managed to do something, although it wasn't any where near what I had set out to do in the beginning. My ideas about dissolving a chunk of rock salt as a record of time and memento morii did not come to fruition. I was plagued with hassles of not being able to find the materials I wanted in due time.

Let's talk about what I was able to achieve. When I started to edit the video I was really disappointed to find out that I had lots and lots of nasty background noise in the shots. I was really frustrated with this as I had purposely gotten up in the middle of the night to put together a set and shot most of my tape. I had to construct the audio artificially. I was pretty ok with this eventually because it would allow me to do what I wanted: really isolate the phenomena of time.

My shots were pretty interesting. I did find that I was really struggling with the fact that I wanted this to be a minimalist piece. I kept thinking of Warhol's Empire and looking at the minimalist phenomenist (is that a word?) work of Olafur Eliasson. I found it very hard to sit with the long shots and leave them be. In the end I think I have done too much complex shot mixing to really explore this idea of a minimalist film. I do think that I created a piece that has some visual interest but I missed the true minimalist aesthetic. It is very hard to do minimalist work in this media, the time base makes me very anxious. I believe it is far, far harder to make a minimalist video versus a minimalist painting.

Anxiety. I didn't realize the power of this anxiety when I started. Since I ran in to issues with my salt metaphor, I abandoned that and thought I would be making a meditative work. I envisioned a dark space with little reference and a rhythmic drop. A film that focused on the phenomena. The phenomena and lack of reference raised my anticipation, the length of the shots raised my blood pressure. I showed the film with the timecode specifically hidden so that my audience would have to pay close attention. Thus my film became very physiologically challenging.

Susan referred to this latest video's strategy as using a spectacular media to witness a non-spectacle. I am of two minds about this comment. I fully understand her viewpoint. Nothing happened in the mundane sense in my film, yet it was projected on the 'big' screen while thirty people sat analyzing it. My ambivalence though comes from the idea that something did happen: time passed, people got very uncomfortable, the anticipation was palpable in the room (Cat called me a Sadist, heehee), the phenomena that I am so interested in really shook them ( or annoyed them). So in this way I disagree. Phenomena are spectacular to me, time constantly makes me anxious, I take drugs to help me deal... Perhaps non-events are very good subjects to use a subject matter.

Chris made the point that the anxiety was heightened by the captive nature of the classroom audience. I agree but, I think it would be very interesting to try to work it into an installation that achieve the captive nature that worked so well on Wednesday.

Julia Bradshaw made the point that she thought I could go more minimal. I think she is correct.

Thank you for a great semester, Profesora.

I put together a set in my studio today. I came in early to do this and I started shooting about 5AM. I had an appointment at 8:30AM; when I returned to keep shooting the class next door was in full swing. I got tons of background noise which I don't want. Hopefully I can construct the audio from the 30 min. of video shot earlier.

My salt experiment to create a larger crystal did not panned out. I decided to not shoot using the salt. I hope I can pull this thing together as a medititative piece.

I was not able to secure a large block of the Himalayan rock salt last night. I was able to find some smaller pieces I am going to see if I can distill a larger crystal by dissolving some and trying to evaporate the water.

My project has morphed into my concern and focus on phenomenas. I am constructing a clepsydra as first proposed in my research. I will make a video versus an installation as I do not believe I have enough time to construct a well considered space. This will be a visualization of time.

Susan has suggested that the water drop needs to interact with 'something' to construct a metaphor. I agree with this. I have ideas of using rock salt as a co-actor to the droplet.
Excerpted from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_of_the_earth ): "...The Bible contains numerous references to salt. In various contexts, it is used metaphorically to signify permanence, loyalty, durability, fidelity, usefulness, value, and purification..." Additionally the metaphor figures in Hebrew metaphysics as the covenant of salt.

All the sacred gifts that the Israelites set aside for the Lord I give to you, to your sons, and to the daughters that are with you, as a due for all time. It shall be an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord for you and for your offspring as well. (Numbers 18:19)

In Kabbala it is recognized as a tool of immutability with properties that can destroy as well as preserve.

Science shows us that di-electric properties are dependent on ionized substances like salt. The supposition that the first life on planet earth originated from the sea is no surprise due to the fact that the salinity of the sea led to complex energy transferences. Salts are absolutely necessary to life and an eletrolyte deficiency can cause severe medical problems or death. Conversely an over abundance of salt will create hypertension, dehydration and can lead to death as well.

Salt's necessity it has shaped society through taxes, trade, remember the spice trade from the Mid-East during the medieval period.
Some dubious scholarship claims that a famine of salt caused insanity and led to human slaughter during the Middle Ages in order to consume the 'salty flesh'. This is purported to have given birth or reinforced the vampiric legends of blood consumption. The research looks very dubious when I tried to cross reference this.

Salt therefore becomes the a metaphor for life, the body, and sacred spiritual existence as well. I am trying to track down a fair size piece of naturally occurring rock salt. The health food/alternative medicine industry sells Himalayan rock salt. Its' proponents ascribe to the medical and spiritual properties of this mineral. I am intrigued by it because it has a pinkish cast from the Iron content in the deposits. This is formally interesting to my eye and eludes again to blood because of the salt in the fluid and hemoglobin is an iron compound as well.



I bought a separation funnel as my clepsydra. This precision instrument is made for distilling chemistry. I am intrigued about using the highly fabricated device as an early technological horology instrument. In a way it seems anti-technological.

So I was contemplating making a video about the effects of traveling near the speed of light and have bagged the idea. Below is the transcript of my emails with a relativity expert.

Thomas Asmuth
to kavs
More options Nov 27 (1 day ago)
Hi I am in the pursuit of making a film about Special Theory of
Relativity. To develop my film I have been trying to construct a
thought experiment. I was wondering if you would look at my thought
experiment and see if it follows mathematical/physics predictions
about the situation I pose. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time.
--
Thomas Asmuth
Room 206A
SJSU Art&Design

510.407.1567
thomas.asmuth@gmail.com


here's my supposition:

Two Friends, Thomas and Samoht decide to celebrate the centennial
anniversary of STR with a martini cocktail. Befitting this occasion
they decide to do have a relativistic toast and cocktail party. In
order to facilitate this idea Thomas will remain in a frame of
reference that is at rest while Samoht accelerates to approximately
98% of the speed of light in his special developed vehicle. They have
agreed prior to the launch of Samoht that they will have a
synchronized toast to the history of STR when Samoht's ship reaches a
prescribed point of distance from Thomas' ship. Each colleague knows
that mixing the proper cocktail takes exactly 3:15 minutes and thus
they will start the drinks 3:30 min. (3:15 plus 15 seconds) before the
synchronized point X, giving them a few moments to repose with the
cocktail before they begin the toast at the agreed coordinates.

This assumes they are experimenting in a section of space completely
devoid of any other bodies other than the ships that Thomas and Samoht
occupy. Assuming instantaneous communication exists so that Thomas and
Samoht can telepresently monitor one another, what would Thomas and
Samoht each witness?

I believe that Thomas would witness a slow motion (5x slowdown) of
Samoht as he prepares and toasts. Thomas would see Samoht start at
17:30 minutes before the point of synchronization but it would appear
to take Samoht 5 times as long to prepare.

Logic tells me Samoht's monitor would show the opposite: Thomas would
appear that he waits to the last second achieving the task in 42
seconds (5 times as fast) instead of 3:30 minutes.

--
Thomas Asmuth
Room 206A
SJSU Art&Design

To which Ken replied:

Ken and Vicki to me
Nov 27 (1 day ago)
Yes okay, I'm delighted to be of assistance. Well, I'm afraid your suppositions are nearly 100% incorrect... and the assumption of "instantaneous communication", even though it is merely a fictional assumption, introduced solely to simplify your thought experiment, it cuts straight against the fundaments of relativity. Relativity is entirely premised on the impossibility of instantaneous communication between remote locales! But OK, we'll let that assumption stand anyway; I'm in a charitable mood.

The main problem with your write-up is that the distortions of relativity in flat space (what is generally classified as 'Special Relativity')... those distortions are completely covariant, ie. mutual. So, quite simply, whatever Thomas witnesses of Samoht, Samoht will witness of Thomas. They both see each other's time slow down! A second problem with your write-up is that the entire notion of simultaneity between two disparate frames becomes utterly moot (ie. undefined) under relativity. Only if Samoht came to a dead stop with respect to Thomas could the two of them then establish any real premise of simultaneity. Of course, by then, the accelerations that the one undergoes has thrown things off considerably.

And yet still another problem in your write-up is the fact that the "prescribed point" where Samoht will drink his toast is a predefined distance from Thomas' ship! Once the two fellows are in motion with respect to one another, that distance becomes distorted (by Samoht's reckoning), and that changes things considerably.

To better understand the complexities involved, please read that section of my web site labelled Addendum IV, http://www.sysmatrix.net/~kavs/kjs/addend4.html.

Thanks for your interest,
Sincerely, Ken

Add the fact that I then saw the ways of my error:

Thank you for the feedback. As I thought on this after I had emailed
you I came up with similar misgivings. So the conclusions I come to is
that the only way to measure or compare is for the two to return to
the same frame (i.e. Samoht to return) and compare clocks. If Thomas
accelerates though to catch his friend, it will distort time and space
similarly and probably negate any effectual difference.
Am I on target?

Thank you,
Thomas

Ken's affirmation of my understanding:

Yes, you're on target, assuming Thomas undergoes the precise same
accelerations and motions that his friend had, their clocks will agree once
they are together again.
-K

SO I decided I am not ready to make this film because I can not solve these issues in mind artistically or not, thus I defer this work until another day.