Zeno Reaches Zero
Creator:
Critchley, DavidContributor(s):
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Nick at Battersea Arts Centre
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This work is part of the rewind archive.
Duration: 4mins 54secs
Year: 1975
Original formats:1/2 inch EIAJ reel-to-reel, high density
Type of work:Single Screen B&W
Funding source: Self/State
First exhibited: 1976 Battersea Arts Centre, London
Further Known Screenings:
2B Butlers Wharf“‘Zeno Reaches Zero’ This was the first single monitor piece I made which could only have been realised on video. It was based on a conundrum – that of Zeno’s paradox, where the number zero can never be reached by halving any number repeatedly, ad infinitum. However, this was over- ridden by being expressed through recording and re-recording a series of countdowns starting at 256. A second countdown was recorded from screen and a new ‘counting head’ appears at 128, then a third layer recorded with a new head coming in at 64, a fourth at 32, and so on through 16, 8, 4, 2, 1 and inevitably, 0, at which point the piece ends.” David Critchley
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