IN DISTANCE TIME MOVES is a video art piece by Michael Kurt, originally shown as part of the 2023 exhibit Timescape(s) at Moscow Contemporary in Moscow, Idaho.

Material Used: 35mm film scans, field recordings from Mt. Hood National Forest, slide projector. (2:43)

Artist Statement

There are many things that I don’t remember about my life. The older I get, the more unclear things begin to seem. I remember elementary school, in the countryside in Oregon. We had a small school, in a small town, away from everything else. We had a house in the forest and my brother and I used to walk for what felt like miles without seeing anything but trees, and a small creek. These things I can pinpoint; they are very clear in my memory. I can smell the air fresh with rain and what would soon be a storm. I can hear the river behind the house, near the road. I can feel the emptiness of everything. After that, when we moved to a city, I have very few pictures and, therefore, very few memories. IN DISTANCE TIME MOVES is my attempt to show how time feels—abstract, flashing textures, birdsongs and water flowing and the slide projector in my grandparent’s basement. Some images are clearer than others; some are blank textures lost in my distance from them.

Presentation

IN DISTANCE TIME MOVES can be presented in one of three formats:

1 - as projected video with stereo sound embedded in the video file.

2 - as projected video with multi-channel audio (4 speaker). This would separate the audio into 4 distinct tracks and give a feeling of a surrounding environment. Birdsongs and river, resonator (ambient tone) 1, resonator (ambient tone) 2, and birdsongs and river, plus slide projector.

3 - as projected video with headphones for isolated viewer listening (and the sanity of gallerists).