Temporal Dislocation and Audiovisual Practice

Through the development and analysis of an audiovisual art practice this research explores creative strategies derived from the cultural theory of hauntology that lead to a sensation described as temporal dislocation. I investigate methods that evoke a nostalgia for personal histories, remembered potential futures and perceptions of time being out of joint. Adopting formal strategies when working with sound and film, such as jump cut editing and juxtaposition, my work questions notions of temporality by scrambling distinctions between the past, present, and future. Supported by the writings of Mark Fisher and Darko Suvin’s cognitive estrangement of science fiction, my research reveals that the use of digital technologies to recall memories, can paradoxically both exorcise and reinforce their value. Exploring territories where technology and the paranormal overlap, I consider the possibility of the transference of memory, via architecture and other inanimate materials, known as Stone Tape Theory. Drawing on work by Susan Hiller, John Cage and Mark Leckey, I interrogate notions of temporal dislocation and raise questions about our relationship with digital technologies.