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| Robert Crumb - "A Short History of America" |
Looking at the comics of Robert Crumb was a good example of time shown in an art form, his series of 'A Short History of America' shows areas in different time periods, showing how a landscape can change with time, things being constantly removed, replaced or built up.
Comic's are probably the best example of how time can be seen in art, as multiple panels, pages or volumes allow the artist to show change based around a story and the progression of characters and where they are. Naturally, using the aging of characters are a easy way of showing the progression of time.
The best example I can think of with this is the character of Carl Grimes from The Walking Dead comics.
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| (The Walking Dead) Carl Grimes aging progression - 7 - 13/14 years old Tony Moore (1st Panel) / Charlie Adlard (2nd and 3rd panel) |
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| Christian Marclay's 'The Clock' stills |
It's quite an amazing idea that this film can last 24 showing the exact time of day while it's being watched (Example - if the movie shows a clock with 3:00pm on it, If the film was started at mid day, then the correct time would also be 3:00pm real time)
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| La Jetee Poster |
The other film that we were shown was a short by Chris Marker called 'La Jetee'. It was really bizarre and from the notes I took at the time the film followed a man captured and used for scientific experiences in the aftermath of a fictional World War Three bombing in France.
The man was being used to tap into his memories and past in hope that he could also tap into the future in further experiments. The use of time in this film was more Science Fiction themed, Involving time travel. The main conclusion is only seen at the very end of the film, where the man's first memory of a man being shot was actually his own death.
Rather than a traditional movie, La Jetee is made from photographs to create a sense of movement and time flow. I think the use of the photograph slideshow style is really effective in creating a dramatic mood to fit the theme of the story. It's also not something many people will be used to seeing, so it becomes instantly quite eye catching for many people.
"Glued to an image of his past, If we can handle the past then we can live in the future"
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Looking at other uses of time in art?
Random thought when thinking of ways to show a passing of time was from The Walking Dead TV show, the shot-for-shot pan up on the city of Atlanta from Season 1 and shown again half way through season 5. (I do apologise for the heavy use of Walking Dead references in this post)
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| The Walking Dead season 1 and season 5 screen caps / Episodes - Days Gone Bye // Consumed (c) AMC |
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| Screencap from The Clock Puzzle in Silent Hill Downpour (c) Konami |
Another quick thought I had was the use of clocks in the design and puzzles of the video game Silent Hill Downpour, that are used throughout the game as a reference to the main character's time being constantly pushed or always missed through his story, such as time he wasted in prison, how he was too late to save his son from being murdered, the time spent planning how to be imprisoned to get revenge on his son's murderer, etc.
When thinking of other uses of time in art, I was kind of stumped for things I could think of asides from movies or TV shows that feature time travel or have heavy emphasis on timekeeping i.e Lost, The Time Travelers Wife, Doctor Who. So I wanted to get the description of the word 'Temporal' (As shown at the start of this post)
What is temporal art?
Art that ceases to exist, examples - Performance Art, Ice Sculptures, etc
Seen as a new and modern art movement that is still to really be widely recognized, many of us would have seen or experienced some form of temporal art in our life, Street performers using chalk on pavements, watching plays at the theater or watching a fireworks display. The fun of temporal art is that it encourages people to experience these things first hand,
however the major downfall of the movement, is many people would share the art as photos or recordings online rather than first hand.
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| Don Chapelle working on an ice sculpture |
It's still a cool way to spread a piece of art that can't be replicated or seen at the time, but it does take away some of the magic if people prefer to view such pieces through screens. Some of my favourite examples of temporal art are the works of Don Chapelle.
He makes his ice sculptures using a chainsaw to create both fine and simple details. Naturally, due to the nature of ice, his works are only able to viewed in the flesh on display for about a day depending on where his work is being displayed and stored.
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| Andy Goldsworthy's piece "Cairn" from 1997, made and displaced in Herring Island, Australia |
The works of Andy Goldsworthy are fairly similar also. I came across his work while googling Temporal Art. He works with any kind of natural materials, such as stones, leaves and feathers that he displays is patterns in the wilderness of woods and such. Some of his works may last much longer than others, for instances feathers in a pond will only likely last in place moments where as twigs weaved together have a chance to last for a fair while. His work is something truly unique and I can't think of anyone who uses nature or art in such a way.
I really struggled to find artists who fit into a temporal movement, and illustration/illustrators don't really seem to be the people found within the movement itself. Time can be found in many different subjects, mostly in film and television and the art work seems to be working it's way to incorporate more time-based works in the modern day.
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| Salvador Dali - The Persistence of Memory |
Most would agree that the clock's in this piece would be about reminding us about death, the inevitability of time ending. The 'figure' in the bottom center of the painting could be also been seen as a dead creature, making the idea much more solid. However, I think the air of mystery surrounding this piece is a great addition in itself, making it a timeless image that people will be talking about for many years to come.
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| Piece from 'Annabelle's Illustration' depicting fashion from 1900 to 2000 |
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References :
http://artstalks.tumblr.com/post/25038332771
http://www.brillianticesculpture.com/about.html Don Chapelle's website
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/temporal
http://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/1168-2
My own knowledge of Silent Hill/The Walking Dead
http://totallyhistory.com/the-persistence-of-memory/
Bonus ref (?) / Theorist?
(Book preview) All though this book preview really isn’t about art and time, but the art of the passing of time, it was interesting to think about how time can effect things just by passing. It made me think of previous lessons where we’ve looked at renaissance art, thinking about how at the time science was the focus of peoples minds rather than religion, which affected the subject matters of the paintings. Movements still appear to this day based around a societal way of thinking, such as the rise of graffiti as a ‘style’ or ‘movement’ to go with modern day rebellion and thought of an oppression many feel from governments. The ‘pop art’ movement that appeared shortly after World War II to give new life and fun to people using bright colours and popular images or things at the time to bring the country together.
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