Single Pane Window
Lennox Johnston-Yu
A view of moments best left undocumented. A view of moments in between those that were meant to be seen.
Listen closely- you may just be able to hear them through the glass.
SINGLE PANE WINDOW (2026)
Audio and video, cloth and wood, metal and wires. 00:10:00
ORIGINALLY DISPLAYED AT THE NEW WESTMINSTER NEW MEDIA GALLERY
A video art piece in which a montage of memories centring around the theme of over-documentation in everyday life plays, encased within a window in the wall of a small room constructed of black drapes and plush carpet, hung from a wooden frame. Beside it, a shoe rack where you may (if you want) remove your shoes to rest a while.
Through the window, we see everything that doesn’t make it into the final project- the missed lines, the clapping to sync the audio, the on-screen direction, the discussion of camera movement, the fixing of costumes, unused B-roll footage, fits of laughter and constant retakes. An ode to the reality of what binds us together- not the art but the people. Playing while this happens is an evolving soundscape of amicable conversation, the sounds of thinking and talking through an idea, of background noise, both vocal and environmental, of frustrated explanation, raucous laughter and crowds roaring. The sounds of connection, divorced of context and arranged from quietest to loudest, overlaid with rich and lush chords slowly sweeping together. The order of the clips randomly generated and put to the soundscape blind- any moments of matched timing entirely coincidental and serendipitous.
When you step into the room, the isolation of the curtains and the change in the ground beneath your feet cut you off from the rest of the world. The light pours in from the window in a mesmerizing thrum, and the soundscape envelops you from all sides. The knowledge that there exists a world that is only the journey and never the destination. The feeling of nostalgia for a place you have never been to- a yearning to return to a reality that no longer exists, and maybe never did. The feeling of wanting to go home when home is nowhere.
