Analyze / Create / Limit
Ever heard that quote about how you cannot analyse and create at the same time? I always thought my working process was capable of doing that; firing all parts of my brain simultaneously, driving purely on intuition. However, my practical self is now running into limitations; the material that I collected does not meet my needs for what I want to cut and I find myself going around and around hoping to find something new to connect. The feeling is somewhat similar to walking to the refrigerator time and time again and hoping you’ll magically find that one thing you want to eat, while essentially, nothing has changed in the last 10 minutes.
This is how I’m feeling about the collected archive material now. Of course I can find connections one way or another, but I’m getting to the point where I want the connections to make a deeper cut in the groove and, so, I have to go back and collect more material. The process is of this is happening while I’m building the work which leads to internal frustrations in my workflow. I can’t just ‘mine’ the material, I have to wait for someone to send me the requested files, which makes me aware once again of the barrier that is present when working with an archive who is the holder of said materials. As I’m building the work, I am finding more and more limitations within the presented material itself — such as the timecodes plastered all over the material, which is now determining how I shape and size things. Today it dawned on me, that once the timecodes are lifted (in case the materials are cleared) the work will then again look different, feel different. All these details are so crucial to the process (determining size, shape, what is visible), yet I have to go through this process of permission, which in course affects my workflow.
Plus! While I find myself in the process of building now, I notice it’s increasingly difficult then to go back into this huge massive archive and try to find what I’m looking for which I see in my minds’ eye but still don’t know how to prompt. In all honestly, the archive is still a mystery to me in that sense; a giant beast with multiple arms, legs, eyes and mouths staring at me. While I know it won’t hurt me, it will also not move out of the way and I must use a specific way of movement and interaction in order to get what I want from it. It’s making me walk into my own limitations of time, patience and stamina.
Additionally, I think it’s interesting that while timecodes are used to navigate the material and locate something quickly, it also serves as a lock of some kind. Or a reminder. It’s a constant reminder of how time is ticking on even when you’re looking at the footage of the past — plus — how you cannot use the footage freely because this black bar or floating ticking numbers consistently occupy this space. How would a time traveler work around this type of lock or blockage? I wonder. Perhaps I should incoorporate this idea of the timecode into the work somehow as a detail and use an annoyance to my advantage.
Anyway. The archive and I have a very interesting relationship because I realise that while I love archival material and while I have access to it — I dislike the constant ask of permission during this process while I just want to create, build freely and mainly fast. This brings me to the thought that perhaps there should be a tier in place where if they offer this residency again, I’m wondering if it’s possible that the residents should also be able to download all the material freely (with timecodes and maybe even watermarks) to build accordingly and then have it go through clearance in one process which will lift all the limitations.
Which reminds me — I have to switch out all the footage once it’s been cleared (or not), so the film gets remade again and again. Reminds me of Stuart Hall and his notes on the living archive.
That’s all for now.
Connective material
Hublot Time Lock by Egor Henglix
26-09Text, Images
07-04-2026