Featured Work
First Studio Scenario: The Self and Familias
Identity, Memory, and the 4th Dimension
Justin Smith
We perceive our world in three dimensions. We exist within spaces, communities, and environments both familiar and unfamiliar. Through reflecting on these experiences in the 3rd dimension, we are able to gain an understanding about who we have become. When planning this installation, I wanted to dive deeper into what has led up to this point, who I am now, and explore what my future possibilities could be.
I am who I am because of my past. My experiences, communities I have been a part of, and my friends and family have all played a part into who I am now. Who I am now, in turn, dictates who I may become. This being said, it is not possible to create a portrait of identity without looking into the 4th dimension: Time.
We exist within time just as we exist within place, the only difference is how we experience the two.
This installation seeks to represent the process of understanding myself through exploring the unfamiliarity of existing within both place and time.
The 4th dimension is home to our memories, the people we were, the experiences we’ve lived, and the places we have been. Our futures, places we will go, the people we will be, and the experiences we will live are yet to be realized within the 4th dimension. The memories of our past and our undiscovered future all exist right now, within us, in the 4th dimension of our existence.