Ave Palm Drunken Time Under the Floorboards
“Several philosophers, artists, and writers have highlighted the symbiosis of time and space in human dreams and memories. The importance of space in the process of memorizing memories is emphasized. “In order to explore space, one must study time. … The sense of time is formed by events, we live through events, and the most important component of the sense of time is the ability to remember, the ability to keep and order events in mind. It seems to me that it is easier for me to keep and order events in such a way that I place them somewhere in a point of space.” (Jan Kaus) “… the house conceals dreaminess, the house protects the dreamer, the house allows us to dream in peace. … the places where dreaminess has been experienced take over again in a new dreaminess. … the dwellings of the past within us are indestructible.” (Gaston Bachelard)
I have realized the need for large spaces to better domesticate my dreams. Since my childhood included several large spaces and buildings, they are often present in my current dreams. At the same time, I feel an indescribable attraction to old, decaying, grand buildings. It seems to me that visiting such places, wandering around them, helps my dreams to take flight. Accordingly, my work so far and certainly in the future largely consists of ruins, contrasted with the capture of nature’s various forms from budding, abundance, calming, to decay.
In this exhibition, I address the essential fluidity of places and personality, dreaming about the layers that form over the passage of time from twenty different directions. These themes, which are personal to me, remain unnamed here. My desire is not so much to highlight my own person as to allow the viewer to create their own personal associations, the emergence of their own personal dreams.
As humans, we do not think of architecture as something constantly changing but imagine it as fixed, stationary, unchanging. Yet, architecture is inherently fluid. All kinds of spaces exist in some form in our consciousness. We have different memories, knowledge, and imaginations of them. We imagine them, but these knowledge and imaginations are not fixed and stationary. They are constantly changing. The same essential characteristic applies to our personality. In general, we want to think of ourselves as one certain person with specific traits. We do not think of ourselves as several people at once, who are in constant change. But if we could indeed think through all these different characteristics, the different people we have been, are now, and may also be in the future, it would certainly add a lot to our essence.”
– Ave Palm
Ave Palm is a visual artist navigating between multiple mediums, drawing inspiration from obscure natural phenomena, everyday peculiarities, and the poetry of ruins. Her photography has been published in Värske Rõhk and Positiiv magazines. Palm, along with Helle Ly Tomberg, has participated in cyanotype exhibitions “Inside and Out and Inside” at the Aparaaditehas and “Wind Always Rises in the Evenings” at Positiiv gallery, as well as the photography exhibition “Everyday Little Life” at Okapi gallery.
The exhibition “Time Drinks Beneath the Floor” remains open at the Outdoor Gallery of the Creative City until April 14, 2024. The Outdoor Gallery is located in the square of Telliskivi Creative City and is open 24/7.
