"Pause" by Jody Zellen

This visual work could be seen as a kind of visual poem, scroll drawing, or webcomic strip. Seemingly the result of tracing or drawing by hand on thin paper, the piece has two layers of drawing: one layer is presented at the beginning of the piece for a few seconds before it fades into an opacity that mimics ink shining through from the other side of thin caliper paper. To add complexity, the work seems to be created on a long strip exposed to view partially through a scrolling mechanism we cannot control and which goes by at a rate that is challenging to keep up with. Zellen acknowledges this desire for control by pausing the scrolling just for a moment and briefly bringing up the word “pause” before continuing the rapidly scheduled presentation of the work. This mechanism enhances the reception of the content, which seems highly political and news-based. Words and phrases like “do-over,” “some think new name” and “jump-off” (juxtaposed with an image of a globe) and the shadowy image of a man in a pose made famous by Richard Nixon suggest that there is no pause in the relentless march of time.