The Small Hours

single channel video 08.30 mins, 2014

During the hours before dawn, referred to as ‘the small hours’, cycles of sleep allow the brain to slow down and process events of the day, usually through dreaming. The title also refers to daytime hours when the mind is free of immediate and urgent demands. In moments of dreamlike wakefulness the brain makes new connections, associations and discoveries, piecing together what is remembered with what is imagined. A sense of searching pervades the visual imagery and fragmented sequences require the viewer to find points of connection. Strong light and dark contrasts, together with an underlying geometry, give the work a formal coherence. Music by Rhona Clarke is dark and slow moving. Composed for accordion, it uses the expressive range of this instrument to capture the unreality associated with the small hours.

Duration 08.30 mins

Commissioned by Concorde in 2014, the work is dedicated to accordionist Dermot Dunne.