When I was 16 years old, my Grandfather wrote to me:

"The square below has a secret fifth side, which you can only see if you stare at it for a very, very, very long time. "

I have come back to look at this many times, and struggled with what he was trying to say to me. My Grandfather was an excellent storyteller, and this could be just him crafting another. 

But what if it wasn’t?

This project created a physical space where I battle with the idea of squares having five sides in several dimensions: of light, shadow, and sound, using improvised synthesizer sounds and a distressed handmade super 8 film projection.

In our current understanding of reality, the possibility of a fifth side existing is impossible.

Mathematically, the definition of a square is: “a plane figure with four equal straight sides and four right angles”. The only mathematical way for a square to have a fifth side is to allow this definition to be changed in some way. This means that in some other dimension that we currently cannot perceive or understand, squares could have five sides. It also brings me fear, as the definition of the square is an unbending law of the universe that I cannot in any way change without upending some law of reality. 

This project also raises philosophical questions concerning the opposing law of squares, and the fifth side. How can these two ideas exist at the same time? What conclusions does that bring us to when they do? How can this relate to other conversations and methods of thinking when we encounter these indestructible truths?