Suffocation

By Rhys Votano
Performed by Lucille Speilfuchs with sound by Eirik Boen Gravdal
Multi-screen video
8:27 Mins
2017

As for all works in the Weight of Light series, Suffocation uses a technique developed by Rhys Votano which compares three timelines in one image. The single second of real time that is taken to capture an image is reflected back to the audience as both 1/8th of a second and 200 seconds simultaneously. The result plays with our perception of what it means to occupy time and how heavy a burden it can be. 

Lucille begins the piece toying with a heavy liquid substance, letting it drip and give her weight. Within the gel are tiny sparkles of glitter that drip over her body and give it an ethereal lightness. 

She plays with the contrasting textures before lifting a white sheet that is solid by form though immediately fades, its transparency veils our sense of time.

Eventually she is encased in the sheer material, gasping for breath but ultimately suffocating in it’s stillness.

Suffocation proposes that our humanly presence, its form and  heaviness, the space it occupies are all an illusion of light and time.