CARLA CHAN
Between Happening
( iron powder, plaster glued and printed on paper, magnetic mechanism, 51x41x100 cm , 2017)
Between happening is a kinetic, time-based installation. It consists of a framed screenprint and a custom-built magnetic mechanism hidden behind it. The magnet attached to the mechanism inside the frame moves iron powder printed onto the paper. The iron powder reveals the structures and outlines of a landscape. The movement induced by the magnet creates ever-changing patterns of erasing and constructing, revealing and concealing the landscape, which slowly evolves through time.
The pieces of Between happening symbolise the impact humans have on the environment. Every intervention leaves its traces behind, just like the dark iron powder leaves its traces on the print. Over time, the powder will smudge the print more and more, as the particles are dragged across the paper over and again, like pollution smudging a pristine landscape over time. The looped, mechanic movement contrasts and unites ideas of the cyclical character of life and the mechanic intervention of humans within it. This impact, however, is only revealed through time, just like the magnet reveals the impact of the iron powder on the print over time.