The
Renaissance
Society

Duration Piece #31
Boston

On December 31, 1973 a person was photographed at the exact instant that was determined to be 1/8th of a second before midnight. Inasmuch as the aperture of the camera was set at "4", (1/4th of a second) the image on the film became complete 1/8th of a sceond past midnight, or put another way, after the first 1/8th of a second in 1974.

As the younge woman who was photographed faced south the left side of her body was directed towards the west: time "moves" from east to west so the photograph represents the subject during an instant when approximately half of her body existed within the "old" year 1973, and the other half existed within the "new" year of 1974.

(The young woman assumed the "costume" most traditionally associated with the spirit of the season: that of the New Year Baby.)

This piece was made as the specific manifestation of my participation in the third "World Uprising" ...a project designed to occur each December 31st for the next 248 years (at this point) "throughout man's vanishment" as stated by Yutaka Matsuzawa who invited me to participate on the behalf of the Imaginary Space Center, Nagano-Ken, Japan.

Douglas Huebler

January, 1974