Screen Time


Screentime is a single 40×50″ C-print produced in 2019 from the scan of a large format color film slide. Using no digital alteration except for dust removal, this image was created to replicate a dream, reflecting on its meaning during the creative process. The final print was exhibited in the Alfred Lambourne Arts Program.

As I prepare to type this artist statement on my big screen, I notice I have already checked my little screen 3 times with no logical reason. I estimate that at age 25, I have spent a full year of my life staring at screens for entertainment, work, background noise, and a quick fix for boredom‒fueled anxiety. Screen Time is a personal reflection on this part of my life, created from a subconscious image that drifted through my mind as I fell asleep.

Narrative001
screen time; 2019 | Fujichrome Velvia 100 (4×5)

The image Bliss, taken by Charles O’Rear in 1997 illuminates the screens of this series. This image floated past my consciousness thousands of times until it adhered itself into an obscure corner of my memory. Devices and desktop backgrounds have since changed,  but this image continues to punctuate my life in the form of dream‒like ruminations. Only after I photographed, developed, and printed Screen Time from Fujichrome Velvia film did I learn Bliss was photographed on that same film.

Douglas Tolman

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