On 19 October 2024, artist Matteo Sullivan (also known by his full name Matteo Cornelius Sullivan) presented his "DEMONSTRATION OF TIME TRAVEL" at Kent Street Gallery in East Victoria Park, Perth, Australia.
Matteo, how did the idea of "DEMONSTRATION OF TIME TRAVEL" come about? What inspired you to explore the concept of time travel through art?
At the end of last year (31/12/2023), I realized that I hadn’t painted anything during 2023, so I thought that if I started a painting that day, I would most likely finish it in 2024. Normally, you sign and date an artwork once it’s completed. That’s when an idea struck me: if I painted something now, and then painted something else related to it the next year, there would be a link in time between them. Immediately, I thought about connecting the two artworks with a third element that would move between them. It hit me: time travel in art! So, I painted the first canvas that day: a single color with a hole in the middle. It was painted, signed, and dated, making it an artwork by definition. The inspiration was strong because I quickly realized that no one had ever expressed this concept in art before. This piece is a first in the art world, and the second in my artistic career, as I am also the first artist to have crossed the edge of the canvas in a painting.
Lightning is a central element in your work. What does it represent for you and how does it relate to time travel?
The most challenging part of this artwork was the third element, the central one. It had to be something that could travel from one painting to the other. It could have been anything, and I thought about using a small engine to move it, but I wanted to keep the concept simple without overcomplicating it with conceptual embellishments. So, I decided the element had to be lightning! "Lightning" in Western culture symbolizes ideas, genius. I had several ideas for its representation, but the moving part needed to be light enough to travel on a small string and connect the two canvases. I used plastic and glued it together with two time traveler figures (1/72 Airfix astronauts). I painted the sculpture gold, as ideas are "gold."
You chose to combine painting and sculpture to represent the passage through time. What was the creative process behind this fusion of media?
Combining painting with sculpture is something I’ve done before in my work, but this fusion of media had already been explored by other artists. The choice of using a sculpture that moves on a thread simplified the piece and added interest. I could have used a third painting to move between the two others, but that would have appeared modular. The creative process was about finding a way to make something light enough to avoid moving the two paintings when they were on the walls.
In your work, pink and blue are symbolic colors linked to the feminine and masculine respectively. How did you choose these colors and what meaning do you attribute to this choice?
The choice of pink was accidental. One day, a friend of mine, a singer, was looking at the first canvas (after I told her I’d give her $100 if she guessed what it was) with the string that I later used to connect the two artworks. She pointed out that because of the pink, she thought it resembled a menstrual pad. That comment made me realize I could add an extra, non-essential element to the artwork: the two sexes, which have been essential to humanity since forever, symbolizing a future. That’s why I decided to paint the second canvas light blue to symbolize males, and to place two time travelers on the moving element instead of just one.
Your "Moving in Time" series explores movement in time. What does the concept of "movement in time" mean to you and how do you convey it in your works?
More than a series, it’s a triptych that aims to demonstrate time travel through art. The movement was necessary due to the structure of the work itself. In older films, time travel is often depicted as a static idea, with the traveler being stationary and the time changing around them. With my artwork, I show time travel through movement. Time travel, as I see it, is not actually possible, but we can think of movement as life itself—noise, energy, and other factors that shape our understanding of life. From birth, our bodies are constantly changing. We grow, we change dimensions. In a way, living life is like time traveling, because we remember the past while our essence stays the same, growing with experience. Science, philosophy, and science fiction may have more answers on this, but who knows?
Does art, in your opinion, have the power to challenge the laws of time? If so, how do you think the public can live an experience that crosses time, as in your exhibition?
Not really, but only as a concept, like in my triptych. This is the first time in the history of art that an artist has demonstrated time travel in this way. The public can experience crossing time by coming to see my work next time it’s shown. Alternatively, they can watch the video of the demonstration.
What challenges did you face in trying to translate an abstract concept like time travel into such a tangible visual form?
I had to find materials that were light enough not to collapse the artwork, while also helping to convey the idea of time travel. To be honest, it wasn’t too difficult, because many of my works have conveyed abstract concepts in the past. My mind is very conceptual and creative, so I usually go straight to the point. The only challenge was in choosing the materials, which required a bit of thought.
Do you think art can be a bridge between science and imagination? How is this relationship present in your work?
With real art, yes. Creativity is the foundation of innovation. You can know all the formulas, but without imagination, or more specifically creativity, you won’t create anything new. Creativity is what shapes the future—without it, the future would just be a repetition of the present. This connection is visible in my work conceptually, as it shows that science can’t reach everything. In this case, art made time travel possible.
What are your future projects? Can you tell us something about your next work or how you will evolve the concept of "time travel" in your future works?
Right now, I don’t have any new art projects. I’m not sure if I will continue developing the concept with other artworks, because this is a demonstration. Once something is demonstrated, there’s no need to repeat it. I believe the future is about creation, so I’ll move on and create new concepts. But who knows? The future is unknown. To know it, you’d have to travel with my art. 😉
