Art Project by (deviant) participant Elizabeth McTernan

CIVIL DUSK - LET'S TRY AGAIN TOMORROW LOOK WEST, BE THERE Saturday, July 19th, 2008 Let's all watch the sunset together as the sun sets on America. I will be observing and documenting the time between sunset and civil dusk in Cape Alava, Washington, USA, on the evening of July 19th, 2008. That's where I will be at that time, on my way to Japan. Please join me from wherever you are for that 40 minutes - whether it's light out or pitch black - and take a photo of your western horizon at the moment of our Civil Dusk (see below for your time). All you have to do is look west, be there. "Civil dusk" is the official name for the moment when the sun sinks lower than 6 degrees below the horizon, finally leaving the land in true darkness. This term is not only one of scientific functionality, but also one that is poetically and politically loaded, ambiguously optimistic or fatalistic. I chose Cape Alava because it's the westernmost point in the contiguous U.S., and I quite like the idea of acknowledging the country's very last experience of sunlight for the day. Look west, be there. Let's watch the sunset together as the sun sets on America. Let's try again tomorrow. Political cynicism holds hands with a romantic gesture of hope. Both apocalyptic and like a first date. Please note your respective times: Cape Alava, WA (westernmost point in the contiguous US): - sunset 09:12pm civil dusk 09:51pm US Western Summer Time: - our sunset 09:12pm our civil dusk 09:51pm US Mountain Summer Time: - our sunset 10:12pm our civil dusk 10:51pm US Central Summer Time: - our sunset 11:12pm our civil dusk 11:51pm US Eastern Summer Time: - our sunset 12:12pm our civil dusk 12:51pm British Summer Time: - our sunset 5:12am our civil dusk 5:51am Central European Summer Time: - our sunset 6:12am our civil dusk 6:51am Japan Standard Time: - our sunset 1:12pm our civil dusk 1:51pm +1 day South Korea Standard Time: - our sunset 1:12pm our civil dusk 1:51pm +1 day The time just after sunset is a transitional one that redefines our perceptions, be them legal (burglary is considered night burglary 30 minutes after sunset, upon which time the penalty is increased) or physical (there is an official time each day after sunset when objects are definitively indiscernible to the naked eye). Focusing on civil dusk addresses the question of "objectiveness" in representation - in terms of the limitations of the eye, the limitations of journalistic images, the limitations of our own faith in these instruments of "truth." Also, I think there is something to be said for observing civil dusk on an arbitrary day. While every new day brings a brand new civil twilight, we are free to begin again, and fail again. IT WOULD MAKE ME SO HAPPY IF YOU WOULD JOIN ME - DON'T BE LATE, AND DON'T FORGET TO EMAIL ME YOUR PHOTO AFTERWARDS! -- Elizabeth McTernan Somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, en route to Japan 443.570.4636