“Metronome” consists of a series of color photographs. While navigating through the city, I tend to be drawn to look at the facades close to the sidewalks. I notice the urban surfaces are marked by their geometric repetitions and recessed elements. These geometric repetitions create a sense of rhythm and harmony within and among different architectural elements. Recessed spaces, such as doorways, windows and columns give the architecture a sense of depth; hence, they appear to be more complex and imposing. Together they offer many ways of uniting, which reminds me how time is conceptualized–quantifiable and cyclical. These architectural elements become metronomic to me. These interstitial urban structures become the units to imagine time at its contemporary pacing. And I seem to experience the passage of time at the recurrence of these structures by registering my pace to these structures while walking in the city, which explains why it always feels fast being in cities. I am attuned to a faster pace and keep marching on, from one structure to another.

I feel a loose connection to the works of Candida Höfer. She usually photographs grandeur spaces, such as museums and libraries, and her works are always frontal to deliver such grandiosities. I have taken an opposite approach. I like to photograph these interstitial spaces from the angle that shows where the edge breaks. It becomes metaphorical: despite a desire to linger, one still needs to move on to the next parameter. These spaces provide some kind of bunker safety through its surface. And I take shelter on the urban surfaces. These small, closed, finite spaces give a sense of stillness and security. On the other hand, when the parameters are disrupted, I am frozen in the spot to what is exposed, as if seeing ghosts. My photographs and recomposition of these spaces aim to show the visual oddities in these structures. They are their own point of entries to time. While time is in its repetitive manner, there are halts that slow one down. They disrupt the regular units and lead to lapses, circulations, and accelerations– different ways of counting time.