R.E.M

"We think of sleep as a tranquil act, when our minds are stilled and our brains quiet. The act of sleeping is a passive one and is associated with a blissful unconsciousness and the delight of waking refreshed. The only awareness we might have of something happening in the night are the fragments of a dream. That is, at least, for most of us". The Nocturnal Brain, Dr Guy Leschziner.

Inspired by Andy Warhol's film 'Sleep', this video was made to see what R.E.M sleep looks like. We are all aware of this process, but we rarely get to see this in ourselves. This footage was not restful, though some people's sleep may be so. It showed the movement of the eye whilst the brain was active, in an unconscious state, mimicking the disrupted night that others will have had. The single eye is isolated, alone, set aside from its partner.....

This film prompted thinking about how individual an experience sleep is. We all do it, yet our relationships with sleep and sleeping vary greatly. There is no shared understanding of what 'good' sleep looks like, and what it is to be tired or sleep deprived.