Paul Humphrey Inversions

First off, “Inversions” is not just another video, it is a transportive experience. Review should not be your first encounter with this work. Please scroll down to the bottom of this post and watch the twenty one and a half minute piece. Fullscreen is highly recommended. Disappear into the New Mexican desert, remember the Chaco people and forget yourself for a while.

Paul Humphrey, Inversions, still from video, 2011.

Paul Humphrey has been producing amazing film and video work for nearly two decades. Personal experience couples with new observations in charming ways that consistently acquaint his audience with vast areas of possibility.

Paul Humphrey, Inversions, still from video, 2011.

Since the sundering of the Pangaen supercontinent, countless civilizations have risen and vanished. The ruins of these people stand as constant reminders that that we are all connected. Technology has succeeded in reuinting our natural boundaries but largely, where we have been remains as much a mystery as where we may be headed. Present time floats in conundrum and yet most human endeavor begins in the luxurious state of certainty.

Paul Humphrey, Inversions, still from video, 2011.

Humphrey accepts our prime failure and embraces it as keystone for new enterprise. There is a freedom to his approach that saturates each frame with a hegemony that saddles truth.

Paul Humphrey, Inversions, still from video, 2011.

Themes in this video fold in and out resulting in a fourth dimensional mandala that envelops a virtual place behind the eyes. The resulting creases reunite time and space in a veritable display of the nonlinear physics of the universe. We are brilliantly led into this remote state with flashes from the color spectrum and retrieved similarly at the conclusion.

Paul Humphrey, Inversions, still from video, 2011.

During the experience, an innate human sense kicks in that forces the audience to participate in the video in the same way that they are in the near past, ancient time and potential futures. The body fuses connections that the mind ignores. Stand in the sand and look around. Become the mountain, recall the Chaco and ride the contrail.

Paul Humphrey
Inversions, 2011
High Definition Video
Shot in Chaco Canyon, NM
Camera, Editing, Graphics by Paul Humphrey
Sounds culled from archive.org
Quotes taken from the television program “Max Headroom” (1988-1989)

Images and video courtesy Paul Humphrey.