Title: The Day Time Stood Still – September 24 2020, the Freeze, and the Lives of Amirah Adara and Sam Bourne
Sam Bourne’s installation Freeze Protocols (exhibited online due to the pandemic) invited users to submit images of moments they wished to freeze permanently. Bourne’s algorithm then "aged" the frozen image by adding digital decay (pixelation, color shift, artifacting) over real time. On September 24, 2020, Bourne collaborated with Adara to freeze a specific user-submitted image for exactly 24 hours without decay — a "pure freeze." The image, later revealed to be a family photograph of Adara’s late grandmother, became a shared memorial. This case illustrates how the freeze can function as an act of preservation against digital forgetting.
The term "Freeze 24 09 20" seems to refer to a specific scene or moment captured on September 24, 2020, involving Amirah Vann and Sam Bourne. The project they were working on during this time is a subject of interest for many fans and followers of their work. While details might be scarce, the intrigue surrounding their collaborations often speaks to the chemistry and talent they bring to their projects. freeze 24 09 20 amirah adara and sam bourne fre full
This paper examines the recurring motif of the "freeze" — a sudden suspension of narrative time — in the collaborative and individual works of contemporary media artists Amirah Adara and Sam Bourne. Focusing on their joint project dated September 24, 2020 (coded as "freeze 24 09 20"), we argue that the freeze frame functions not merely as a stylistic device but as a philosophical intervention into the nature of memory, control, and spectator agency. Through close analysis of three key works, we demonstrate how Adara and Bourne deploy freeze effects to disrupt conventional cinematic flow, creating what we term "temporal pockets" that force viewers into a state of critical reflection. The paper concludes that the freeze in their oeuvre represents a political aesthetic against the accelerationist logic of streaming-era media.
Historical backdrop – The world in 2020 was already under strain: the pandemic, economic uncertainty, and a heightened awareness of climate crisis created an atmosphere of collective anxiety. The town of Raven’s Cove, where Amirah and Sam live, epitomized this tension: its once‑bustling fishery was dwindling, while a new offshore wind project promised both hope and controversy. Title: The Day Time Stood Still – September
Personal stakes –
Both characters, though on different paths, shared a common thread: a yearning to break free from inertia—personal, professional, and societal. The Unforgettable Scene: "Freeze 24 09 20" The
Before analyzing Adara and Bourne, we must situate the freeze frame within media history. Early cinema used freezing due to technical limitations (e.g., damaged film stock). By the 1960s, directors like Godard and Marker employed freezes as authorial signatures. In La Jetée (1962), Marker uses still images almost exclusively, creating a haunted temporality. However, the digital era introduced the "paused" state as a user action, not a creator’s choice. Adara and Bourne reclaim the freeze as an imposed moment — the creator freezes, not the viewer.