A horizon is not flat: Photographic pattern compositions as expression for the atemporal

Abstract

Abstract Avant-garde filmmaker and painter Hans Richter refers to visual rhythm as articulation of time, and film as articulation of time and movement: ‘Rhythm is the essence of filmmaking because it is conscious articulation of time. If anything is at the bottom of filmmaking it is the articulation of time, of movement. Film and pattern are both visual expressions based on multiple images. They relate to rhythm, continuity and time but somehow the approach is different. In my practice, I consider working with pattern as managing visual rhythm. I would like to use Richters’ statement to reflect on pattern as articulation of time. Could pattern be seen as articulation of time? How is the time aspect different depending if you work with film or pattern? This article will use the project ‘A horizon is not flat’ to propose how photographic pattern can be seen as representation of place but also representation of time. The patterns can be ‘read’ as experience of place but also as experience of time, not as information or measurement of time but in an abstract or a-temporal sense as visualization of the experience or perception of continuity. I will present the suggestion of how film and pattern relate differently to rhythm and articulation of time, illustrated in a visual model.