On and Thereafter

Abstract

In disparate states of uncertainties arise unconventional explorations of what is extant and what is concealed, and within the bounds of here and there emerges the unprecedented possibility to reflect on our spatial and temporal practices as they’ve been made to exist in the in-between. Shifts; they manifest themselves in our encounters with the befores and afters of post-traumatic experiences. As conflict continues to engender consequences across both time and space, we are inclined to reconsider the inbetweenness of incidents in places that were once home. Interpretations of home are increasingly blurred as nostalgia overtakes the act of recalling the former self. In attempting to think through these explorations, we draw from a series of seemingly diverse scenes that invite a critically generative relationship of contradictions. While we have intentionally embarked on a journey to define what is indefinite, placelessness exerts itself here upon the nostalgic nature of place memory. Fragmented mnemonic experiences become the setting of profound thoughts and reminiscence. In other words, a transitional space is generated by deluded detachments of the past, denials of the present, and worries for the future. And so, as uncertainty overwhelms our spatial practices, what of its lingering traces might be said to still exist in our collective consciousness?