00:03:00, Hi8 NTSC, stereo audio, 1997
An infinite half-space is a mathematical tool used to construct, model, and analyze a theoretical spatial representation of the earth or any situation where two unlike substances are coming in direct contact. A sphere of infinite diameter is bisected by a plane. This plane represents the surface of the earth. Above this plane is nothing (or, a dialectric constant, depending on the model), below is the substance of the earth itself, made up of whatever defined substance the geophysical model-maker constructs. In this short video, a cycle of memory becomes the constructive framework for three transits across seemingly infinite half-spaces. Reality is subsequently transformed by the infinitude of the model. The concentration of the tool-wielder is momentarily lost. The plane is skewed and rotated 90 degrees,and contains non-linear imperfections that cause instability in the model calculations. Nothing is what it seems. Quantum Darwinism perhaps? The Observer shares the vision — despite the specious chaos generally reigning — and provokes the transformation of idiosyncratic isolation into infinite union.
The raw material for this video came from Hi8 NTSC footage filmed on location at the foot of Langjökull, Iceland in May 1997 at a scene of catastrophic post-volcanic jökulhlaup (sub-glacial flood-burst) the previous year. It was dumped directly into an AVID digital video system for non-linear editing during the Polar Circuit artists residency program in Tornio, Finland. The video imagery was heavily processed with existing AVID image-manipulation options and then a final mix was made. The six-track stereo audio, also taped in Iceland, was mixed down from a variety of sources including a flock of gulls and terns attacking a school of small fish near Akureyri, an old Toyota station wagon driving the ring-road, and other ambient samples. Countries of production: Finland and Iceland.