Space, time and light are fundamental elements that shape our experience of the world, both on a macro and micro level. They form the structure in which human existence unfolds and determine how we can move, how we understand the world and how we relate to others and ourselves.

Space is the physical world and the immediate environment in which we find ourselves, time is the context in which our lives develop, and light directs the experience of space and time. These three elements are constantly interacting with each other and form anchor points in our lives.

“We function according to the space that is offered to us, and without space nothing (new) can arise. For a long time I felt limitations; in my formative years I was given a fear of the outside world, which took away every chance of experiencing spaciousness.

With AEON, an installation of photos, light and sound, I blur the boundaries between reality and imagination and between the finite and the infinite. Because it is precisely in this twilight zone that the space to (re)experience arises. AEON is the result of my research into space, time and light and how the experience of these elements can be shaped. In doing so, I work with the medium of photography as a basis, which itself is also fundamentally based on these three components.

My process is one of experimenting with materials and technical processes, of continuous trial and discovery. The photographic images form sensory suggestions of spaces without any reference to scale – I make them, create them, or abstract them. Guided by light and colour, sometimes moving to a vanishing point in the distance, the physical boundaries of the image dissolve. The concrete scientific reality of space, time and light, which offer so much clarity and structure, thus become relative; they fade away and become a personal and intuitive experience.

This is how I analyze what these concepts actually are. What does space mean, can you really experience time, and what is the role of light in this? For example, a point of light can pull you into the image, into space. Or out of it, beyond the frames of the photo. Light can give the sensation of infinite space, or the lack of light can oppress you.

The Greek philosophers used the word AEON to describe a time span that is so long that it exceeds our understanding. My work moves between the physical clarity and the emotional perception of space, time and light. On the one hand, these elements are rationally explainable – they offer structure and certainty through their measurable, scientific nature. On the other hand, they escape fixed frameworks in their experience, whereby we come into contact with them on a level of consciousness but cannot fully grasp them. With AEON I explore this duality. Through this interplay, space, time and light become not only concepts that we know, but phenomena that we experience – on both the physical and the inner level. It is in this encounter, of the already known and the (re)felt, that my work finds meaning.”

Annet Neijmeijer (1960) is a visual artist with a background in anthropology and the humanitarian sector. In 2024 she graduated cum laude from the Photo Academy with the project AEON.