PAULA
BARRETT
THE WILL TO SUSPEND DISBELIEF 2009
This piece consists of two videos, a projected image and 3D glasses suspended from the ceiling.
The glasses, which seem to levitate in front of the audience as they enter the exhibition space indicate the premise on which the work was made; as a reflection on systems of human knowledge and ways of seeing, which are inescapably linked to our physicality and embodied experience. These videos show human fascination with overcoming (or at least appearing to), the laws of nature or physical restraints through sheer will, knowledge, reason, and illusion.
‘Willed suspension of disbelief’ is an idea that is used here to explain how a modern, enlightened audience might continue to enjoy certain types of entertainment. It indicates an onus on the audience to participate in the creation and experience of illusionary or fictional events. This suspension rejects the nihilism reached through rationality and is an act of faith, which results in an ability to be absorbed in the present moment or to imagine the potentiality of the future.
copyright | paula barrett | 2011