Syncope Twilight (1998-2019) 25

“Syncope Twilight (1998-2019)” is a series of photogravure etchings that are a part of an ongoing exploration of expired analogue photographic material and the lapse of time.

The works depict a 35mm filmstrip expired in 1998 on which I photographed the color of twilight from my balcony in 2019. Coincidences such as the condition, age, exposure and development of the film has resulted in the emulsion being damaged and all that the filmstrip shows is its destroyed chemistry.

My inspiration for this series came from reading Vladimir Nabokov's autobiography “Speak. Memory” (1951) wherein he uses the terms syncope to describe his childhood as a forfeited part of his life that he can never revisit because Russia no longer exists but has been replaced by the USSR. I had just returned to my native Denmark after 17 years living in the UK when I read the book, and I recognised the sense of forfeit Nabokov described.

1998 had been a seminal year for me. It was the year I graduated with a BA in painting, it was the year where I met my ex-husband and the father of my daughter, it was the year I started working commercially with photography, and it was the year I stopped making art for 12 years. 1998 was the start of twelve syncopal years where I stopped making art.

In 2015 I began to buy analogue photographic film on E-bay that had expired in 1998. I thought it was interesting how the film had expired but still existed and the idea of something expiring but still being present fascinated me.