Time moves in repetition, but no two days ever feel the same.
In a Tempo., interdisciplinary artist Chaerin Do explores her notion of Time through layered print, music, and material process. The work began with seven 6 x 6 inch plexiglass acrylic sheets, each laser-engraved to represent a day of the week. These plates were then used to hand-print a series of 9 x 12 inch compositions onto music sheets, with ink scratched across the surface using a spatula.
The result is a body of work where colour bleeds, layers shift, and forms blur into one another. Mixing and overlaying hues becomes a metaphor for the way Time accumulates and dissolves. Moments overlap. Memories dilute. Recognition comes only after something has already begun to fade.
Do draws inspiration from Berlin’s U-Bahn station tiles, engraved windows across the city, and the abstract paintings of Gerhard Richter. The work sits at the intersection of nature, art, music, and temporality. Music sheets act as both surface and concept, reinforcing the idea of tempo. Days pass like measures in a score, structured yet variable.
While Time flows in repetition, it is defined by variables. A Sunday is never simply Sunday. Each person’s week unfolds differently, shaped by individual tempo and recognition. By the time we recognise a moment, it has already shifted.
“Time is recognition. Time flows. Time can’t be controlled. When I recognise a moment I recognise Time.”
Across 139 prints created between February 14 and April 26, 2024, a Tempo. builds a visual rhythm. Some compositions feel dense and saturated, others lighter and suspended. The physical act of scraping ink across engraved plates reinforces the embodied nature of Time. It cannot be fully controlled. It resists precision. It leaves traces.
Selected works from the series were exhibited at the NYU Collaborative Arts 2024 Capstone exhibition, Blowing Kisses, on May 13, 2024.
For Do, Nature, Art, and Music all carry tempo. They exist in cycles yet remain ungraspable. Infinite, yet fleeting.
“Nature, Art, Music have Tempo. Nature, Art, Music have Time. Nature, Art, Music exist but are endless. Ungraspable. Incomplete.”
Through laser engraving, relief ink, and the repurposing of musical notation, a Tempo. invites viewers to reflect on their own sense of duration. To consider how moments blur, linger, and dissolve. To sit within the rhythm of passing days.
Website:
https://chaerindo.wixsite.com/site
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