While preparing for a recent trip, I began to think not of how long I would be gone, but rather of how many different places I would sleep while away from home. Specifically, I counted the number of beds that I would sleep in. Sleeping in a different bed lends itself to a certain level of disorientation and thus, we respond to a night’s sleep in an unfamiliar location in a much different manner than we do when the location is familiar. For example, during the first night sleeping in a new bed, a neighbor’s barking dog, the variance in mattress firmness, or even the morning light hitting my eyes at a slightly different angle might prompt me to awaken quickly. Yet, with each night that I spend in this bed, I become more and more accustomed to these differences until I ultimately stop noticing them all together.
At the same time, this series also recalls places of contemplation. Quiet moments staring at the ceiling before the start of the day are my favorite times to let my mind wander. Yet at home, it is rare for me to awake before my alarm clock, and thus, I tend to experience these moments only while traveling due to my heightened sensitivity of my surroundings. During the course of one year (May 25, 2012 – May 25, 2013), I photographed the ceiling from each bed that I slept in.
All The Beds exists as an installation and a set of postcards.