Time Space Scanner

The Time Space Scanner is a project for scanning living and dying organic matter that prioritizes neither time nor space but rather blends them to delve into the experience of memory, being and change. The Time Space Scanner uses a 2D flatbed scanner programmed to scan spatially random small samples at regular intervals, collecting 25,000 to 50,000 images over a period of 3-5 days. These micro captures are then reassembled and animated in real-time in a constantly changing mixture of rhythmic time and space. Any frame of the animation contains pixels drawn from multiple times and locations.

Within the Time Space Scanner project, we have started The Epic Walk Diaries which chronicle a walk on the periphery of Vancouver.

A new visual treatment for the Epic Walk series was needed so we could  blend from one portion of the walk to another and  showcase both the macro view of the scan (the full composition of the the scanner bed) and the micro view of the individual scans, which always mesmerize and surprise us when the scanner is actively giving us new data. We also wanted to incorporate the words from the poem in a dynamic form.

There have been a total of thirteen walks so far, from August 26, 2018 to November 1, 2019.

This is a love story. A reconnection with where we live.

Project Team
Maria Lantin – Artist, Programmer, Collector
Alex Hass – Artist, Designer, Collector
Simon Overstall – Audio Designer/Programmer

Support

This research is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and by Emily Carr University of Art + Design.