There, After

There, After began as a series of concentrated discussions and research sessions with particle physicist Elisabetta Pallante and organic chemist Ryan Cheichi. The starting point for this work was ‘ Lines of Belonging’. What is it that keeps us, and our physical world together? How do we understand these connections, scientifically, personally?

To understand and expose the strength of these bonds, ‘There, After’ shows them in their absence: The breaking of a bond and the moments that follow. It is perhaps only in the absence of connection that we can truly grasp it’s significance. Perhaps the state of togetherness is something we can take for granted; this work explores and makes physical the consequence of that state being taken away.

Choosing materials purposefully for their elemental connotations, each element experiences a massive change from being held or bound together, to being liberated, broken or blown apart. Using a complex filming technique of multiple repetitive actions and camera angles, ‘There After’ explores the state of transition after this moment of change, creating sculptural objects that take on a life of their own. Continuing her exploration of video as a form of sculpture, Clements’ filming technique allows her to deconstruct and re-assemble time to produce objects that are captured in an unnatural state of existence, using video as a tool to observe what could not be seen with the naked eye.

Whilst these pieces are rooted in scientific discussion, they can be read as metaphors for human experience: All bonds break in some way, at some point. ‘There, After’ observes these three elements in their journey through the varied stages of transition following their ‘release’ - shifting between bound and broken states, with fluid, destructive and liberating results. Through this, the work discusses the nature of human connections, the transitions, losses and rights of passage we all experience at one stage or another. We observe what is by it’s nature a fleeting moment - the process of transition - as a solid, physical, yet dynamic object. Captured in it’s journey after a moment of significant change, each element dances and struggles, changed forever.