Am I Conscious?

Am I conscious? opens towards an imagination of a reality that exists beyond spatio-temporal frameworks of sleep. An infrared camera triggered by movement has recorded approximately 100 still images between 23.00 – 05.30, across a total of eight nights. Compiled in stop motion films, which depict two different points of view, the footage makes for an accelerated and fragmented documentation of a nighttime sleep.  The projections uncover a self that is incapable of controlling its appearance to the outside, bringing into question the construction of identity through perpetual reflection and self-monitoring. By highlighting nocturnal activity and showing a body that moves its limbs, gesticulates, and is restless, the work pushes the boundaries of common notions of sleep. Am I conscious in these pictures? Hard to tell, if not impossible.

Photos by Chiara Catalini