We began making the series "Principles & Theories of Spacetime Manipulation" for our final diploma project at UCA in 2010. It was our second project working together, and we wanted to approach the subject (time travel) in a very different manner to which we shot our previous series "Fade In Darkness" from 2009, which involved a very spontaneous approach. We wanted the project to depict a more neutral aesthetic reflecting the methodic and calculated approach in which we interpreted the subject of time travel.
Initially drawn to the subject by an interest in the science and theories involved in time travel, after greater research we began to realise the wealth of inspiration and creative material available within the subject. Worm holes, time dilation, infinity, singularities and black holes, we found it difficult to focus on a few and select which aspects of time travel to focus on. However as mentioned previously, the series was created during a four month period throughout our degree at UCA, meaning our deadline enabled us to work toward a specific timeline and goal.
The above image is titled Travelling at the Speed of Light, one of the fundamental principles when understanding space-time (one which has recently been opened up to a great level of debate due to recent developments at CERN) is to understand the basics of the speed of light. The inspiration for this image came from the notion that the faster an object travels through space, the slower it travels through time, and if an object were to travel at the speed of light, time would stand still for that object. So for this image and its still life counterpart, we wanted to reflect this principle and the way in which an object might look as it began to slow down as it would speed up, it was this paradox which drove the image.
However our greatest inspiration for the project came from the notion that these principles and theories are not visible in any form due to our current technological threshold, and are only present in mathematic equations and scientific diagrams, we wanted to create something tangible and accessible.
- Luke Norman and Nik Adam