Elapse I & II, 2006

ISBN 978-90-811390-1-4

On April 7 and 8, 2005 the Canadian artist k.g. Guttman threw a duplicate party in celebration of her thirtieth birthday. Thursday 7th was the rehearsal, Elapse I, Friday 8th was the performance, Elapse II. The invitations instructed guests to attempt to remember every action and conversation they experienced during the first party, in order to re-enact them at the second party.

The publication Elapse I & II contains over 600 video stills from the performance: Thursday, shown on the left hand side facing Friday, shown on the right. Each double face spread selects 10 video stills from an interval of approximately 5 minutes of the event in order to distill a chronology of performance, documentation, and comparison.

Elapse I & II, offered up in book form, allows the reader / spectator the occasion to consider the two events simultaneously. The selected images of the overwhelming three hour performance documentation target to unveil critical similarities and differences of the event and reflect on perception and attentiveness to the present moment. Elapse I & II clearly draws to the surface the startling process of memory in action.

design in collaboration with: Olivier Arcioli; printing: Robstolk