Blog 30 - July 2024

Rewriting Time

Rewriting Time, performance art, 8hours 19min, 2024, photos by Ann-Marie James.

Rewriting Time is a sculpture made of ashes that were collected from my garden where I and my six-year-old son burnt a roll of paper cointaining more than eight metres of writing from 8 hours and 19 minute performance art Rewriting Time.

The writing was taken from another durational performance art called Screen Time, in which I have used my phone time as labour, typing continuously for five hours until the battery ran out. This produced around 10,000 word fragmented essay that was a combination of my own thoughts and the thoughts of people who happened to drop by the University of Suffolk's fine art studios during the time of performance.

While Screen Time was recorded, Rewriting Time was entirely transient, requiring a human rewriting of every word so that the event ended when it ended in its own time. I believe that each event has its own unique time, which I refer to as "Natural Time," and is unrestricted by the mechanically standardised time that exists globally. 

The dates of birth and death—the days of the two performance's execution—are displayed on the plaque. The audience may speak for it in its absence adding their own interpretations and value to the work.

Following the completion of this and many other projects at the University of Suffolk and celebration of accomplishments of academic year 2024, fine art studios have been emptied and filled with level 6's degree show Prelude, which took place in June. 

I'm happy for all of the graduates and their tutors on their great achievements, and I can't wait to be a part of this event next year as a graduate myself.

For now, I'm heading out on a few trips with my six-year-old adventurer and Gordy the Guinea Pig, so I'm wishing you all a wonderful summer!

Kristina Tonev | Artist | Sculptor | Teacher