My Own Worst Enemy (2010)

image courtesy JohnTonkin – represented by BREENSPACE, Sydney and Arc One Gallery, Melbourne

What began as a mid-life audit of my body, ended up as a descent to the surface of an alien world…

In the late 1800’s scientist/inventors such as Marey and Muybridge developed a number of pre-cinematic devices to analyse motion. These technologies allowed people to observe time and space in a way beyond normal human capabilities, creating a heightened sense of awareness of our passage through time. The images that were produced captured the public imagination and influenced artists such as Duchamp (“Nude Descending a Staircase”, 1912) and Balla (“Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash”, 1912).

Later technologies such as strobe photography and video effects processing have continued these explorations leading to the production of images such as “. 30 Bullet Piercing an Apple” (1964) by Harold Edgerton and music videos such as Amii Stewart’s Knock on Wood and the Jackson 5’s Blame it on the Boogie.

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