#Skyproject2
On November 1, 2020, almost exactly five years after this project first began, the sky calls again for daily attention. It may be the season of darkening that prompts me now, in the northern hemisphere, to focus on the changing light. I want to drop into a familiar practice of daily awareness: note this moment, this day, this “one sky” that is so incredibly variable in its steadiness, so diverse in its universality. It touches on the buddhist notion of not one/not two — universal and unique, differentiated and part of a boundless whole.
Our place under the sky is just like this, our eyes, bodies, hearts, our minds — not one, not two.
The constraints: one photograph of the sky, camera angled straight up, with no reference to the ground or horizon. No buildings, trees, or wires. (Flying things are permitted when they arrive spontaneously.)
The first expression of #skyproject, beyond daily posts on instagram (@visual_creative), was an hundred-day photo gallery (+ 100 DAYS). After 100 days, I was completely hooked. I committed to continuing daily for one year. At one year, I committed to a total of 1000 days. After almost three years, on September 25, 2018, this 1000-day collection was complete.
A second expression of the project is an animation* of the sky, through a portal. This test uses the first 2/3 of the photographs, sorted by colour, manually. Visit the portal here* — sit with it a while. It’s about 12 minutes of sky to watch.
I will continue to explore the questions:
What is the essence of sky?
How can the work convey “skyness”?
The next phase of the project uses a dedicated Instagram account @skyproject.ca and a new hashtag #skyproject2. In this phase:
I am taking higher resolution photographs, 3 photos in three breaths, daily.
This phase will be a more deliberate record-keeping, observing climate change where I live in Tkaranto / Toronto, comparing against the first 1000 days. Watching for patterns.
Collaboration: I invite you to participate in this project by taking your own photographs, from your personal patch of sky. Invite that sky into your consciousness for as many days as you choose. What will you discover from the sky, from durational practice? Share those images on Instagram if you want to play. Use the same hashtag, #skyproject2, and follow that hashtag to see what’s up — above all of us!
(*animation may not animate with some mobile browsers)
