Reflections On Empty Time

“Empty Time”, the current exhibit showing at the Fridge gallery, captures the intangible and often unappreciated moments that occur in life.  The show is curated by Trevor Young and displays a wide array of images ranging from a man tenderly pulling at his eyelid to a mall parking lot in PG county to the boundless assortment of tiles on a bathroom floor .  Not only are these relatable visions, they are visions that spur reflection on the personal meaning of empty time.

In the fast paced, technologically advanced world of today it is often hard to actually experience empty time.  Usually the phrase “there isn’t enough time in the day” is heard as opposed to “this is how I spent my empty time”.  “Empty Time” exemplifies the beauty of unfilled time.  Time that is unique to every person, but is so abstract and transient that it can easily pass without being captured.  

Kate MacDonnell’s “Multiplicity” and Alexander Schaefer’s “Griffith Park Motel” are two works that depict elements of a bathroom.  I found these pieces extremely fascinating in part because they represent a room that holds so much empty time.  The bathroom is probably the one room that is truly private and empty of daily distractions (of course there are always exceptions).  There is somewhat of a transcendental quality about gazing at one’s reflection in a bathroom mirror. When talking with Trevor, he remarked on how a young girl looking in the mirror can see the different stages of her life pass before her eyes.  I found this to be a very acute and accurate observation, especially considering he was never an adolescent female.  This caused me to reflect on my adolescence and the many times I stood at the bathroom sink, brushing my teeth imagining what my life would be like in the future or putting on makeup for the very first time.  Moments I took for granted, but moments that signify a pertinent, tender time in my life.  Schaefer’s “Griffith Park Motel” possesses a very intimate and thought provoking scene; the view through an open bathroom door of a motel room.   The viewer is left to wonder how many times the artist has stared through such door and what was going on in his life during that empty time.

Jenny Axner’s “PG Plaza 2” and Adam Wallacavage’s “Ozzy” are also reminiscent of the empty time of adolescence.  I can remember spending endless minutes hanging out in the mall parking lot, waiting for parents or friends to arrive.  Empty time spent sitting on a curb or people watching. Time I labeled as wasteful, but time that represented a symbolic part of my youth.  Wallacavages’s “Ozzy” captures teenagers doing often what they do best, hanging out listening to music.  There is a certain sense of freedom portrayed in this photograph that can be lost in adulthood when empty time is all too often compromised.

Trevor Young told me the idea for “Empty Time” came to him about two years ago.  It is evident in the carefully selected collection of works that a great amount of foresight and sentiment was poured into his show.  Not only are many wonderful artists featured, their work is beautifully unified in the reflections of empty time.  It is refreshing to take the opportunity to visit “Empty Time” because before you know it the busy world of cell phones, ipods and honking buses will make themselves all too present.