Karthik Pandian- Before the Sun

At first glance into "Before the Sun" by Karthik Pandian
it is easy to be thrown off by the dark scary room with frightening clicking and clanking noises but presented with short films of the sun is quite ironic. Upon entering you are positioned in a pitchblack room with echoeing noises of the two 16mm projectors playing in opposite directions. Incases in glass boxes, one porjector plays the sunrise with people walking by, and the other plays the sunset. The glass cases are anchored to compressed dirt slabs stacked on one another that present a stair-like stage leading to the projectors. Standing upon the slabs looking above you will notice the film strip exits through the top of each projector and circles from the left back corner of the room to the front right corner, or vice versa. The film strips are supported by a grid of twine commonly seen as a mapping system for archaeology.
What I have grasped from this piece is how influencial an endless cycle can be. We are presented with this setting that represents the circling of the sun. The earth is always revolving around the sun as do these film strips, open and obviously revolving above our heads. The way that the installation is set up encourages the viewer to also walk around in circles going back again and again to refer to the opposing image of the sun. The earth related references represent us as the earth, strong and stable, but always managing to circle the sun, always standing before the sun.
There is so much detail hidden in this piece that is highly appreciated. The ruggedness of the compressed slabs show the imperfections of the earth and its tendencies. The way that the slabs introduce you to the film production is very inviting and encouraging for the viewer to really look at the film process. The way that the glass cases enclose the projectors are almost as if those are set aside as non reality. Unlike the dirt slabs, you can't touch the projectors, which gives apprehension that it is a figment of our imagination. Every thing around us is reality and the revolving film strips are our imagination's thought process.
This piece has a challenging concept with intense outcomes. i took in a lot from this installation and overall it is a wonderful piece that shows a lot of depth that you can literally walk around in to discover.

images: www.jamesryang.com
www.grahamfoundation.org