1.2.3 4/5/6: A Moment In Time

It was 2003 AD, tumultuous times, I had spent days scouring the City of Vancouver in search of an imagined niche. Oh yes, did I ever! Heavy camera bag in tow, searching for the essence of Vancouver, an essence I could appropriate; but no Vancouver had other plans. Vancouver had decided to shift, Vancouver had decided to go world class, to become an Olympic city.

The clocks I had meticulously photographed earlier will not mark moments in Vancouver, BC because BC had set a date in the future, 2010 AD to mark her existence. The writing was on the wall; everyone's will had to bend to fit into the city's gargantuan plan. There would be no time nor place for starving artists. I folded my tripod and moved on in the summer of 2003. I thought back then that the move was final and there would be no turning back.

Surviving on a shoestring budget in the Big 'O' and delivering a hundred percent of my earnings to the landlord, my camera had not a chance. I decided to take what the 'O' had to offer, free but rarefied air, lots of ice and green space. I evolved into a singular biped who walked with arms always outstretched and perpendicular to the ground, my eyes always set on the horizons in search of peace and a life with meaning.

I met people in the 'O', many I constantly reminded to remain at the periphery of my outstretched arms to allow me to savour my air and space. The ice was another matter, it froze everything it breathed on and easily transformed living things into animated ice statutes. A few were able to keep their hearts aglow rekindled with the strength of love. I befriended a few women I collectively call CSy; their influences I now know will endure forever. Whilst this log is dedicated to all the girls I met and loved at College Square, CSy will always have my gratitude for their support, inspiration and challenges.

I slept with my eyes open in the 'O', and always in sitting position like a priestess. One day I woke up from one of these trances echoing "213" and asked I myself "what about 123?" Shortly afterwards, I returned to Vancouver and forgot all about the dream till one early morning, I checked my lone mail from one of my Ottawa friends to discover an alert which read:

On Wednesday of this week, at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 in the morning, the time and date will be: 01:02:03 04/05/06.

Here again the serial one, two, and three had presented itself, this time, on four, five and six (which happened to be Wednesday April 5, 2006). This serial may present itself several times in my life, so I have decided to give for this occurrence my own interpretation. Could it be a reminder that life presents you with moments that you must turn to advantage, just as a bell sounds a wake up call? Could 01:02:03 04/05/06 be such a moment? As in 2003 here was another moment that would ebb, pass, tick, move on, or remain in constant flux, maybe a new beginning that no man after Joshua can make to stand still.

My comment on time in 2003 now gathers new meaning, the essence of a place cannot be frozen in time; though a few glimpses can be caught in rare but opportune moments. And, BC may be in a flux as it rolls towards AD (2010), but it may be better to become a part of it because when 2010 AD is here it will be no more, it will be history...

Thank you, C for sending the alert.



"BC or AD? Go figure!" — An allusion to time, reproduced below, was first published under Coopadvertising Network photo essays on clocks in Vancouver in 2003. Vancouver had won the Olympic bid and was ready for a major transformation; I had to find new eyes to see the city.

BC or AD? Go figure!
Clocks, no, I mean time,
yes, at what time t, is time your own?
... ebbs, passes, ticks, moves on, in constant flux...
Sorry, you never get hold of this,
no matter how hard you try.

Clocks do not mark BC moments.
BC moments are preset in an Anno Domini.

These moments are etched on all the city walls and
BC will make you do the time - Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin..

Top