“Darkness does the opposite of obscure. Loss of edges and detail actually bring out essences of moment/spirit and connectedness. Shadow, by distorting one's expectations, enlightens the imagination” 

Jun'ichiro Tanizaki “In Praise of Shadows".

In “3am”, Maxine Heppner has embraced the inconsistencies of her film environment- its existing light, sound, textures- and in post-production, the pixels forming what we see on screen, creating an exploration of sensation, impermanence and immediacy.

The work is a mandala of 3 sets: Nightdancer, Nightwalker, and Moth.

Within each set is 3 sets that in themselves cycle in and out of each other.

The camera’s eye: in set 1 is a side glance, holding the space by not looking at it directly, out of respect for the night-dancer’s privacy: in set 2 the eye is the walker searching outwards: set 3's eyes crouch below the walkway fascinated by the moth above, then drawn up into the light.

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Director’s notes

I have been working in Indonesia, and regions, since 1990. Then, even in cities, electricity was delivered through generators only 4 hours/day and the walk to the telephone office in the square was through gentle, dark night. These decades later, the warm night have more contrast. Lighted places are scalded by raw bulbs, shadows are deeper, and technologies have layered themselves over and under everything.

My work now has also become an experience of layers. “3am” lives in theses intersections. Impulse-specificity & open unregimented time, are now fuel to search towards no isolation, towards inside-outside being fluid, toward "elements-systems" being complete in themselves and in response to each other. My process has become more internal, finding a way to be with complex cycles of impulse, necessity, dream and their intersections, resulting in multi-layered visible expressions (the dance).