The Moment We Knew Nothing of Each Other.

'The Moment We Knew Nothing of Each Other' is a permanent installation of a large scale photographic diorama in the foyer of Royal and Derngate Theatres, Northampton.

Hamann’s work operates in the space between the still and the moving image, and is conceptually founded on the integration of old and new media.

The permanent photographic installation is inspired by the 19th century diorama principle of exhibiting translucent pictures with lighting effects and applies the latest digital printing technology to create images in continuous transition and change. Combining Hamann’s original film-strip technique with a novel use of 19th century diorama optical devices, the imagery creates a metaphysical sense of movement as well as making visible another world behind everyday appearances.

The artist positions traces of everyday public performance, people travelling, again in a public meeting place, creating a physicality of real time and recorded movement. Using methods of performance, chance and permanent transition both in the creation of imagery and the technology of display Hamann manages to create a dynamic artwork that will look different each time visited. The piece reflects on the parallel of theatre and photography describing a period of time. The momentary encounter of passers-by photographically frozen on two film-strips, escapes the viewers gaze in the installation when the images are slowly dissolving into each other.

In a climate of high resolution realistic photography Hamann’s film-strip imagery offers a new representation of the way we see and observe and the process of observing rather than the observed object itself. Some of the figures walking by have not registered on the film-strips due to the incongruence of the movement of the film in the camera and the movement of the figure. Similarly when we focus our attention on a person or a thing we may not register other persons or things in the same optical field.

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