“Maybe I recognize something in him that has always been there, and that has always been mine. Something that has brought us together not in this, but in another life.”
Irrealis is the might be, the could have been and the should have been. It is the space between fact and fiction, inhabiting our memory and expectations. We are often pushed and pulled by this irrealis, creating a disharmony with the present. Both our past and future are factual extensions of the irrealis, shaping this present into something it perhaps is not. What remains is a desire, dread or nostalgia for times that are unreal, for possibilities that are just out of reach, yet close enough to touch.
In Irrealis, I explore the possibilities of time through human connection. There are lifetimes hidden in every meeting and every connection, and this potential is what inspires me as an artist. Through a collection of visual poems I look at not only the way time did unfold, but also the way it could have, as every story hides more than meets the surface. By presenting these stories in a video installation, I aim to walk the line between art and film.
Patrick Abma 