Cheryl Nelson Costumes

During my time at AUP I experimented with making videos. They were nothing spectacular, just simple exercises that continued my exploration of light. For this piece I introduced a black box and a few mirrors, hoping to create a kaleidoscope of reflected light.

The result was not what I had imagined. Instead of a complex pattern of reflections, I created something much simpler. Even so, I found it strangely mesmerising. The only problem was that, once the light rods were set in motion, they quickly lost momentum. Within moments the movement had stopped, leaving only static reflections.

At first I believed it was the movement itself that made the piece interesting, but no matter how I adjusted the setup I remained dissatisfied. Eventually, instead of changing the installation, I began experimenting with the speed settings in the video editing software. Slowing the footage down transformed the piece. The gentle movement gave the reflections a calm, almost hypnotic quality that had been missing before.

Life often feels as though it is moving at an impossible pace, and during the Extended BA course I frequently felt as though I was rushing, always trying to catch up. Watching the slowed footage forced me to do the opposite. It could not be hurried. The slow sweep of the reflected lights became almost meditative, drawing my attention and encouraging me to pause instead of constantly moving on to the next task.

While this is not one of the pieces I am most proud of, it changed the way I approached making art. It reminded me that when an idea does not succeed in the way I intended, the answer is not always to abandon it. Sometimes it is simply a matter of looking at it differently.

This time, I thought inside the box.