Keith Sargent working in collaboration with Lindsay Seers on 'Every Thought There Ever Was' is a moving-image installation that explores the phenomenon (and the problem) of consciousness, evoking the apparently miraculous complexity of this mysterious feature of our existence while also suggesting its mutability, its uncertainty, even its multiplicity. Displayed in an atmospheric constructed space over two moving robotically-controlled projection screens and one static circular screen, the piece reflects and dramatises the shifting, fluctuating nature of our perceptions of reality, and some of the blind spots and ambiguities inherent in the images we form of ourselves. The piece draws from a wellspring of philosophical ideas and from contemporary scientific thinking about the workings of the brain, and its malfunctions and disorders. A particular focus will be on current and historical perceptions/representations of schizophrenia, and the light that neuroscientific study of this and related conditions might shine on the elusive, variable nature of consciousness in general.

As part of a three-way curatorial collaboration between Belfast MAC, Focal Point Gallery and Matt’s Gallery the work will be exhibited in long-run slots that coincide with major arts festivals.