Guido van der Werve’s work The Day I Didn’t Turn with the World (Nummer negen) was filmed at the North Pole. Van der Werve stood on the axis of the world for 24 hours, and moved clockwise while the earth under his feet turned in the opposite direction. The artist’s movement for 24 hours was desynchronized with the movement of the earth. Van der Werve filmed the performance every six seconds, and contracted the 24-hour footage into a nine-minute film, thus generating a sense of stasis when viewed. The monotonous Arctic backdrop remains unchanged; only the artist’s figure appears to make odd movements. The acceleration of the artist’s counter-movement against the motion of the earth generates tension between two antithetical, noncomplementary movements.
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