WHAT TIME IS IT? WHOSE TIME IS IT?

TIME AND THE ARTS

Honors 491

Laura Ruby, Art

THEORIES OF TIME
VISUALIZING TIME -- Discussion, Readings & Writing
CHARACTERISTICS OF TIME -- Discussion, Readings & Writing
WAYS OF LOOKING AT TIME
SOME EARLY COMMENTATORS ON TIME
HOW TIME IS PUNCTUATED AND FRAMED -- THE MODERN FRAME
HOW TIME IS PUNCTUATED AND FRAMED -- THE POSTMODERN FRAME

TIME AND MOTION IN THE ARTS
TEMPORAL ORGANIZATION IN FILM AND LITERATURE
(MODERN TIMES, CITIZEN KANE, RASHOMON and others) -- Discussion, Readings & Writing

THE LATE 20th-21st CENTURY POSTMODERN FRAME -- Discussion, Readings & Writing
THE TEMPORAL POSTMODERN CONTEXT IN ARTWORKS
POSTMODERN SOCIAL/POLITICAL COMMENTARY IN THE VISUAL ARTS
POSTMODERN TEMPORAL MOVING ARTS -- Discussion, Readings & Writing
KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN -- Discussion, Readings & Writing
WINGS OF DESIRE -- Discussion, Readings & Writing


Stonehenge

Spring 2007

Week 1

THEORIES OF TIME and "BACKGROUND" BACK TO TOP

--cyclical theory of time

--mechanical theory of time

--evolutionary/biological theory of time

--chaos theory of time

VISUALIZING TIME -- How time is visually depicted

--What are the visual clues to understanding each time theory?

--What are the relationships of:

--perimeters -- boundaries -- limitations to interiors?

--sizes of individual elements?

--shapes of elements?

--parts to whole?

--Is there a before and after?

--What is the duration of the lived experience?

THE POSTMODERN IN A NUTSHELL

--whose voices? --pluralism

--who's listening--and interacting? --inclusion

--what's the discourse?

--what's the form of the discourse? --appropriation, fragmentation & pastiche

Week 2 BACK TO TOP

WRITING

There will be three types of writing:

1. Informal interpretative writing including notes, models, questions, etc. -- A, B, C

Please include one question to ask of the seminar each week. This question should arise from the readings or from the readings in conjunction with previous discussions.

2. Short interpretative papers --1, 2, 3

Each writing (2 + pages) may be made of of several statements or it may be an integrated whole. Each paper should include new thoughts generated from the readings at hand. You may refer back to the theories of time and to the characteristics of time and how they bear on your current thoughts. Do not merely recapitulate the readings. In some cases you may choose to create a time model rather than writing a paper.

3. Long paper --10+ pages on a postmodern artwork(s)

READINGS:

Schroedinger's Cat

Telling Time and Seasons

Heraclitus Once

Oldenburg, Heisenberg and Oscar "Shotgun" Albarado

DISCUSSION -- of the above

WRITING #1 --2 + page interpretation paper discussing one of the floor figures and readings + ? (see first meeting handout)

Response to the floor figures.

--Select 1 theory of time--carefully "read" and interpret the visual model

--Include 1 question arising from your thoughts and readings

READINGS -- and LOOK UP --

--"Telling Time and Seasons"

___________________

--Zeno of Elea's paradox of Achilles and the tortoise

___________________

--Zeno's arrow of time

___________________

--"Heraclitus Once" -- Heraclitus' river of time

___________________

--Heisenberg's principle of uncertainty

___________________

--"Schroedinger's cat"

___________________

--2nd Law of Thermodynamics -- entropy

___________________

--Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity

___________________

--the anthropic principle

___________________

--modern

____________________

--postmodern

____________________

--avant garde

____________________

DISCUSSION -- of the above

FOR WEEK 2

1. Writing #1 draft due. This will be shared with seminar members.

2. Question--What is the nature of before and after in your time model?

3. Informal writing--Look up your time topics (here on the left) and be prepared to explain them verbally or visually. Turn in this information at the end of the class day.

4. Sketch-collect--5 cards visualizing time

5. List--words or phrases having to do with time in your field of study

6. Look over the Innocent Eye Test and its questions and make notes for discussion.

7. Question--What is the dilemma encountered when depicting time and space in two dimensions? (Investigate images on this website.)


Action Painting II, 1984 -- Mark Tansey

CHARACTERISTICS OF TIME (tools for engaging with artworks) BACK TO TOP

--measurement (rate of recurrence, rhythm)

--duration

--direction

--order/sequence/association

--change

WAYS OF LOOKING AT TIME

--cosmic

--geologic

--cultural (situated in human activity)

--personal/individual

SOME EARLY COMMENTATORS ON TIME

--Zeno of Elea -- Achilles and the tortoise

--Zeno of Elea -- arrow of time

--Heraclitus -- the river of time

HOW TIME IS PUNCTUATED AND FRAMED -- 20th-21st century physics

--2nd law of thermodynamics -- entropy

--general & special theories of relativity -- Einstein

--principle of uncertainty -- Heisenberg

--Schroedinger's cat


The Innocent Eye Test, 1981 -- Mark Tansey


The Young Bull, 1647 -- Paulus Potter


Grainstack (Sunset), 1891 -- Claude Monet

Treason of Images, 1928-9 -- Rene Magritte

HOW TIME IS PUNCTUATED AND FRAMED -- THE MODERN FRAME -- 20th-21st century art BACK TO TOP

--Cubism

--Futurism

--Surrealism

--the avant-garde

--formalism

The Persistence of Memory, 1931-- Salvador Dali


Time Transfixed, 1939 -- Rene Magritte Un Chien Andalou, 1928 -- Salvador Dali & Luis Bunuel

HOW TIME IS PUNCTUATED AND FRAMED -- THE POSTMODERN FRAME -- 20th-21st century social and economic dimensions of time

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Week 3

READINGS (for week 3 and for Writing #2):

a. "Cyclic Worlds" (cyclical)

b. "The Clockwork Universe" (mechanical)

b." Newton's Time "

b." The Image of Progress "

c. "Fit to Rule" (evolutionary)

d." Information Universe" (chaos)

d. "Order by Chance"

d. "Does Chaos Rule the Cosmos?"

opt. "Einstein's Time" (relativity)

opt. Einstein/Space, Time, and Light "

opt. "Is the Universe Dying?" (entropy & arrow)

opt. "Clock in the Box" (uncertainty princ.)

DISCUSSION -- of the above

WRITING #2 --Revisit your Writing #1 in light of discussion, readings (listed here on the left or internet or book selections you come upon) and viewings. If you wish, just skip a space and continue with a new section of your Writing #1 paper. Turn in your Writing #1-#2 under my office 348 door by Monday.

--Include 1 question arising from your thoughts and readings

Week 4

Due Week 4--Revision of Writing #1- #2 if needed.

TIME AND MOTION IN THE ARTS (more tools for engaging with the arts) BACK TO TOP

--implied movement

--apparent movement

--real/actual movement

--linear and non-linear narrative


Take One, 1982 -- Mark Tansey

TEMPORAL ORGANIZATION IN FILM AND LITERATURE (still more tools for engaging with the arts)

--film composition

--film movement

--action before the camera

--camera movement

--editing movement

--special effects (within the camera and computer-generated)

--viewer/reader/participant responses

Modern Times

Citizen Kane

Rashomon

Week 5

DISCUSSION --
Each seminar member will present his/her investigation into the temporal organization of a created work and include references to Modern Times, Citizen Kane or Rashomon or other films or works of literature (5 minutes + discussion)
: BACK TO TOP

WRITING #3
Due--5? page reaction paper (or time model) looking at the temporal structure of an artwork (film or literature).

See Writing #3 handout.

-------------------------


Modern/Postmodern, 1980 -- Mark Tansey

Week 6

THE LATE 20th-21st CENTURY POSTMODERN FRAME -- the context of our times BACK TO TOP

READINGS--
--Art on the Edge and Over -- Danto
--Art on the Edge and Over -- McEvelley
--Criticizing Art (Theory and Criticism) -- Barrett
--Art on the Edge and Over -- Weintraub (peruse)
--Postmodern Theory -- Best & Kellner (opt.)


Forward Retreat, 1986 -- Mark Tansey

Running Fence, 1972-6 -- Christo

THE TEMPORAL POSTMODERN CONTEXT IN ARTWORKS BACK TO TOP

--pluralism and diverse voices in the discourse

--multiple coding and inclusion of popular culture

--appropriation of historical imagery and diverse styles

--fragmentation and pastiche

--viewer interaction

--self-reflexive

POMO (postmodern architecture)


The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, 1997-- Frank Gehry

Week 7

POSTMODERN SOCIAL/POLITICAL COMMENTARY IN THE VISUAL ARTS BACK TO TOP

Monogram, 1955 -- Robert Rauchenberg

Mining the Museum, 1992 -- Fred Martin

I Like America and America Likes Me, 1974 -- Joseph Beuys

Week 8

READINGS--
--Art on the Edge and Over -- Danto
--Art on the Edge and Over -- McEvelley
--Criticizing Art (Theory and Criticism) -- Barrett
--Art on the Edge and Over -- Weintraub (peruse)
--Postmodern Theory -- Best & Kellner (opt.)

DISCUSSION --
Each seminar member will contribute to the discussion on postmodern artworks and Modern/Postmodern--by Mark Tansey

Due--informal writing A or notes: What are the characteristics of postmodern created works? What are possible underlying thematic contexts? Include a visual example as a handout for the seminar members.


Modern/Postmodern, 1980 -- Mark Tansey

and

Stomp video

POSTMODERN TEMPORAL MOVING ARTS

Week 9

--Kiss of the Spider Woman (120 minutes) BACK TO TOP

--Kuykendall room # ________

Week 10

DISCUSSION -- Kiss of the Spider Woman

Discussants: _________________

_________________

_________________

Due--informal writing B (or time model) on Kiss as a postmodern film + ? See questions in film handout for possible directions. Turn in at the end of the class day.

Week 11

Week 12

--Wings of Desire (130 minutes) BACK TO TOP

--Kuykendall room # ___________

Week 13

READING -- "Time and Space in the Postmodern Cinema"-- Harvey
DISCUSSION -- Wings of Desire
Discussants: _________________ _________________ _________________

Due--informal writing C (or time model) on Wings as a postmodern film + ? See questions in the film handout for possible directions. Turn in at the end of the class day.

between Week 13 & 14

READING -- "Time and Space in the Postmodern Cinema"-- Harvey
DISCUSSION -- Wings of Desire and Harvey article

LONG WRITING --10+page draft on a late 20th-21st Century postmodern artwork (3 copies)
--you may wish to use as reference or to expand on statements you made in your pm & POMO informal writing A paper

--deliver 1 copy of the draft to LR and 1 copy of the draft to your designated seminar member

Week 14

DISCUSSION -- Wings of Desire, Kiss of the Spider Woman, POMO, pm visual arts, John Cage, etc. discussion based on questions and models

--return seminar member's draft with lots of comments and suggestions in margins and between the lines

between Week 14 & 15

LONG WRITING -- final draft due --10+ page paper (2 copies)

--office visits

Week 15

DISCUSSION -- Wings of Desire, Kiss of the Spider Woman, POMO, pm visual arts, John Cage, etc. discussion based on questions and models discussion
PRESENTATIONS -- (5-10 minutes)
READING --"Between a Rock and Mahatma Gandhi"

Week 16

DISCUSSION -- continue #15

PRESENTATIONS -- continue #15

--office visits
--evaluations
--refreshments

Laura Ruby
Department of Art, Room 348
2535 The Mall
Universirty of Hawai'i
Honolulu, Hawai'i 96822
(808) - 956-5250
lruby@hawaii.edu June, 2007: in progress