Karthik Pandian's "Before the Sun"

When I first set foot in this exhibition, I had no idea what was going on. I was greeted by Fillup who harshly appeared out of the darkness and scared me half to death. My eyes had a hard time adjusting to the light, or lack thereof, and I had to stumble and feel my way around the room. Not only that, but there were loud scraping and booming noises that quite frankly creeped me out. I arrived at this place expecting to see sculptures, paintings.. you know, what you typically see in art.....things.

After about ten minutes of looking around, stubbing my toes, and having the artwork

explained to me, it finally clicked...

Before the Sun is a contemporary film installation by the artist Karthik Pandian.

Two large slabs (stacked) made of dirt from the Cahokia Mounds in Chicago form the base of

the piece. On top of the slabs were two film projectors in glass cases. 
Each projector played a repeating loop of the sun: the sunrise played in the east corner, 
sunset in the west. The 16mm film was fascinatingly supported by a pink twine grid 
at the ceiling, creating a unique loop.The audio was of nearby archeologist digging and 
searching through the earth, and people were also passing either alone or with children/pets.

Once I had a chance to understand what was going on in this piece, the fact that I could be a

part of it by walking around inside the art made it feel so thrilling and personal. I had adjusted

and began to feel comfortable, so I sat on the step and watched the sun rise and fall repeatedly

It made you feel like you were there, walking along.. before the sun.

This film instillation was fascinating. It showed me that negative preconceived notions about

a piece of art can make you uninterested and annoyed. You must get to know the piece, get a

feel for it, step in it.

http://www.midwayart.org/exhibitions/10_05_karthik_pandian/