Sleepless Dreams

Wall Text

Sleepless Dreams, 2024

HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Procreate

Project was installed using a monitor and Mac Mini

In "Sleepless Dreams," the artist explores her relationship between sleep and time through the activation of animations. Liu describes the moments before sleep as an opportunity for internal thoughts and feelings to thrive, often at the whims of time. The artist chooses to represent a variety of thoughts or feelings with animations that have a unique color, shape, and movement. The webpage triggers the different animations randomly, symbolizing the unexpectedness of what she internally faces in the moments right before sleeping. The anticipation of closing out one day and starting the next can influence the types of thoughts that transpire. With the blinking of the time and frame rates in "Sleepless Dreams," Liu examines the push and pull between the speed at which her thoughts move and the speed at which she experiences time passing around her.

Co-Written by Kathryn Lee & Victoria Liu

Sleepless Dreams, 2024

HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Procreate

Project was installed using a monitor and Mac Mini

Co-Written by Kathryn Lee & Victoria Liu

Featured in the 11:59 exhibiton at theBLANC Gallery in NYC (2024)

In relation to the show's theme, I really connected to the concept of transitional periods, specifically the stage between being awake and asleep. There are endless possibilities of where my mind can go in those moments, and sometimes it can be a source of anxiety. But other times my thoughts can lead to something more positive, including me coming up with the idea for this project.

"Ten years before understanding that time is slowed down by mass, Einstein had realized that it was slowed down by speed."

— Carlo Rovelli, The Order of Time (Part I, Chapter 3, pg. 28)

Drawing from Rovelli's The Order of Time, I was inspired by discussions surrounding the relationship between time and speed. I found the above quote to be completely true at some times while the opposite seemed true at other times. Playing with the notion that time can be experienced at different speeds, I experimented with frame rates (representing my inner thoughts) and blinking rates (representing how I experience the passing of time). Each of the color animations (red, yellow, green, blue) features a different combination of fast and/or slow frame and blinking rates that might align or contrast.

Feedback & Reflection

Through this project, I learned about the development of a gallery show and the technical process of installation. When developing the website, I made considerations on how the website could remain dynamic without user input, with the random triggering of animations. Rather than displaying the website on a laptop with a keyboard that might prompt interaction, I wall-mounted a monitor that was connected to a Mac Mini, ensuring the installation matched the expected user experience.

During the development of the website, I gained valuable insight on the pacing of the animation. Originally, sequences moved at a faster rate to emphasize a rush of anxiety, which people thought was too fast and overwhelming. After slowing down the animations, I received feedback that the pace was more fitting, but still created the desired anxious feeling.

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