IN 5 YEARS

IN 5 YEARS is an exploration of time and memory, and the tensions and expectations that surround them:

We measure them; we cut them; we stretch them; we compress them; we look to them for clues, yet ignore their prophesies; we seek answers from them; we correct them; we chip away at them; we capture them; we record them; we love them; we lose them; we forget them; we weigh them; we give them disproportionate weight; we package them; we frame them; we reference them; we use them; we apply them; we incorporate them; we materialize them; we study them; we fear them; we access them; we blur them; we carve them; we build them; we plan them; we return to them; we beg from them more; we share them; we judge them; we exercise them; we waste them; we nurture them; we celebrate them; we save them; we document them; we carry them with us, however heavy the weight; we test them; we distort them; we reflect upon them; we cherish them; we challenge them; and we succumb to them. 

They invigorate us; they box us in; they fail us; they free us; they propel us; they limit us; they race us for knowledge; they measure our knowledge; they erase our knowledge; they give us reference points; they weigh on us; they demand disproportionate attention from us; they anchor us to our past; they paint  our imagined future; they make us relevant, and irrelevant; they control us; they open new doors, while shutting others; they humor us; they abandon us; they test us; they are used to test us; they empower us; they embolden us; they give us opportunity; they make us more humane; they serve us elixirs and antidotes, and allow us to heal; they haunt us; they pressure us; they refuse us; they dismiss us; they organize us; they set forth goal posts, and rip them down; they distort us; they infuse our senses; they inform our decisions; and they take us.                                                                                

BACKGROUND

IN 5 YEARS asks us to be gentler with ourselves and each other. It questions how our knowledge, perspectives, and interpretations ‘today’ will shift or be altered ‘tomorrow’. It hopes to evoke individual & collective memory, joy, and reflection,while welcoming you to be present.

2012

IN 5 YEARS is an invitation to interact with an archive of ideas, commitments, clues, social issues, error, joy, absence, and dreams originally preserved and archived in 2012.  The original source material consists of recognizable, everyday crossword puzzles that were completed, not-completed, or absent during 2012. They were saved in a time-capsule fashion, with the intention to then repurpose and modify them from their original form before being presented in a new manner. As markers of engagement and as a lens for approaching the questions IN 5 YEARS asks, the 2012 archive serves as the start of a time-based work intended to span two five-year periods.  

2017

The first incarnation of IN 5 YEARS was welcomed in April and May of 2017. The exhibition presented twelve independent pieces that comprise the Collection, and trace through an application of the archived source material revisited from the calendar year 2012 five years prior. At the gallery space on the Bowery, a confessional was built around classic analogue cassette-tape recorders, wherein guests could anonymously and privately record memories, thoughts, or hopes for the future. While these recordings were promised to be shared five years from the date of recording with each participant, they were also contributions to an audio archive that will be used within the musical and acoustic compositions of the culminating performance piece.

2022

The recordings that were made in the confessional at the 2017 gallery space were archived and organized in a confidential manner consistent with the participant’s understanding, and in 2022 will be made available to each participant on an individual basis using a system designed to maintain the confidentiality that was ensured. Starting on 27 April 2022, each available recording will be sent to the maker on the same date he/she/they recorded five years ago.

While intended to be produced in 2022, the culminating installation and comprehensive work will likely happen at a later date given the various disruptions that have occurred over the past few years. As a multi-media, performance based work that will references each stage in the archival process for IN 5 YEARS, it is important that it this culmination of the ten-year project is developed when collaboration and preparation can confidently nurture its vision. We hope you are able to join us at that time.

To join our mailing list for future correspondence, please email info@in5years.gallery.