Between reality and fiction, before meets after.

The essence of this video installation is the experience of a time twist. Time is in many ways our societies most central navigation system and the measurement that creates the concept of "the future". Optionaltime lets the viewer experience the concept of time in a non-linear way. It is a time experience that has no division between the moments just passed, the presence and the concept of the future.
"The future is already here it's just not in practice yet", someone said. We think that the biggest slowdown in going towards this (concept of) future lies in our disability to think outside our current linear thinking pattern. Optionaltime refers to non-linear thinking. In this piece we want to suggest a more dynamic way of comprehending time. The piece doesn't want to explain this concept, but presents it as an experience.

"The woman drops her keys, I meet her eyes when she turns herself downwards to pick them up. I'm close. My eyes follow her body moving towards a standing position. I watch her face, I watch her carefully. I watch her in the mirror and my concentration on her movements seems to slow her down, but only in the mirror, where my eyes are focused. I step back. Now I see my own movement slowing down, or hers speeding up? We don't move in the same speed. I tell myself that's impossible and I look at her again. Now we are synchronized".


Optionaltime is an interactive movie. The viewer plays the main character. When you enter the installation you see a video projection: a woman in an elevator. You share this elevator journey with her, you see yourself appear in the elevators mirror. The time logic during this journey is being twisted by time delays. Your own reaction generates half of the storyline.
Optionaltime is a customized time experience.

Optionaltime was shown in the exhibition "NONLINEAR EDITING" march 23 - june 23 2002 Museum De Paviljoens, Almere, the Netherlands.

Optionaltime: Joes Koppers and Susann Lekås

Starring: Therese Nylen and Yafit Taranto
Costume: Kirsten Hermans
Make-up/stills: Hadar Kadman
Sound: Jonas Olsson
Set: Tobias Hirdes
Programming: Arjen Keesmaat

Thanks to: all above mentioned, Beam systems, Open studio.

Optionaltime was produced for the exhibition "NONLINEAR EDITING" with support from Museum De Paviljoens and Mondriaan Stichting, regeling nieuwe media. Joes Koppers is supported by Fonds BKVB.

More information (Museum): www.depaviljoens.nl, contact: Macha Roesink

More about the installation and possibilities for showing on other locations: optionaltime@usemedia.com

now: TM

Joes Koppers and Susann Lekås have been working with digital media from their own speciality in separate ways.
Joes from his background as graphic and interaction designer. Susann as a visual artist made several short movies and video installations. Both consider time to be the most central navigation system of our society and the measurement that creates the concept of the future. For them making time tangible is therefore a way of experiencing the future.


Contact us: optionaltime@usemedia.com