Untitled (Perfect Lovers), 1987-90
Felix Gonzalez-Torres
two commercial clocks, 13.5" x 27" x 1"
Defined
time (t
m)n.
1.
a. A nonspatial continuum in which events occur in apparently irreversible succession from the past through the present to the future.
b. An interval separating two points on this continuum; a duration: a long time since the last war; passed the time reading.
c. A number, as of years, days, or minutes, representing such an interval: ran the course in a time just under four minutes.
d. A similar number representing a specific point on this continuum, reckoned in hours and minutes: checked her watch and recorded the time, 6:17 a.m.
e. A system by which such intervals are measured or such numbers are reckoned: solar time.
2.
a. An interval, especially a span of years, marked by similar events, conditions, or phenomena; an era. Often used in the plural: hard times; a time of troubles.
b. times The present with respect to prevailing conditions and trends: You must change with the times.
3. A suitable or opportune moment or season: a time for taking stock of one's life.
4.
a. Periods or a period designated for a given activity: harvest time; time for bed.
b. Periods or a period necessary or available for a given activity: I have no time for golf.
c. A period at one's disposal: Do you have time for a chat?
5. An appointed or fated moment, especially of death or giving birth: He died before his time. Her time is near.
6.
a. One of several instances: knocked three times; addressed Congress for the last time before retirement.
b. times Used to indicate the number of instances by which something is multiplied or divided: This tree is three times taller than that one. My library is many times smaller than hers.
7.
a. One's lifetime.
b. One's period of greatest activity or engagement.
c. A person's experience during a specific period or on a certain occasion: had a good time at the party.
8.
a. A period of military service.
b. A period of apprenticeship.
c. Informal A prison sentence.
9.
a. The customary period of work: hired for full time.
b. The period spent working.
c. The hourly pay rate: earned double time on Sundays.
10. The period during which a radio or television program or commercial is broadcast: "There's television time to buy" (Brad Goldstein).
11. The rate of speed of a measured activity: marching in double time.
12. Music
a. The meter of a musical pattern: three-quarter time.
b. The rate of speed at which a piece of music is played; the tempo.
13. Chiefly British The hour at which a pub closes.
14. Sports A time-out.
adj.
1. Of, relating to, or measuring time.
2. Constructed so as to operate at a particular moment: a time release.
3. Payable on a future date or dates.
4. Of or relating to installment buying: time payments.
tr.v. timed, tim·ing, times
1. To set the time for (an event or occasion).
2. To adjust to keep accurate time.
3. To adjust so that a force is applied or an action occurs at the desired time: timed his swing so as to hit the ball squarely.
4. To record the speed or duration of: time a runner.
5. To set or maintain the tempo, speed, or duration of: time a manufacturing process.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The expansive set of definitions for this one word, makes me question the ability to define it at all. If one word means so many different things, does it mean anything at all?
Quotations
"As the waves make toward the pebbled shore, so do our minutes hasten to their end"
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The expansive set of definitions for this one word, makes me question the ability to define it at all. If one word means so many different things, does it mean anything at all?
Quotations
"As the waves make toward the pebbled shore, so do our minutes hasten to their end"
William Shakespeare
"Each year is like a snake that swallows its tail"
Robert Penn Warren
Annotated Bibliography
Robert Penn Warren
Annotated Bibliography
Strate, Lance. "On the Binding Biases of Time: an Essay on General Semantics, Media Ecology, and the Past, Present, and Future of the Human Species. - Free Online Library." Free News, Magazines, Newspapers, Journals, Reference Articles and Classic Books - Free Online Library. Web. 24 Feb. 2011. .
This essay discussed the idea of time in relation to the theory of relativity. Time as an overarching reality is very separate from individual perceptions of it, which vary from culture to culture, and species to species. Strate explains that the human perception of time is so far removed from any other organisms' because we can sense our mortality. All organisms are equipped with the ability and instinct to make copies of themselves in by reproduction, but humans make copies of their "wills" before death as well. This unequaled ability to measure our pending demise and psychologically interpret that measurement in terms of time is a gift as well as a sickness.
Relates
This idea relates to the work I have started to make incorporating video and the element of time into the discussion of evolution, preservation/obsolescence and measurement. When I started to make the video, I was not entirely clear what the element of time would do to the concept. I am still not quite sure of this in terms of the specific unfinished piece, however, I am grasping the nuances in the medium in relation to my concept better now. The definition of time is a lengthy one, and removed from the idea of the human perception of time and instinctual reactions of humans to this perception. These reactions are the basis for my concept. Human organisms reproduce to survive, but are also finding modern ways to literally reproduce themselves to literally survive. Cloning, stem cell research, etc. The unwillingness to accept mortality has led to a culture void of finality as well as understanding of such a terminal concept. The element of time, I am finding, is a very important piece of my concept, because it creates an environment in which the viewer can have sensory participation in humanity's race toward obsolescence.
This essay discussed the idea of time in relation to the theory of relativity. Time as an overarching reality is very separate from individual perceptions of it, which vary from culture to culture, and species to species. Strate explains that the human perception of time is so far removed from any other organisms' because we can sense our mortality. All organisms are equipped with the ability and instinct to make copies of themselves in by reproduction, but humans make copies of their "wills" before death as well. This unequaled ability to measure our pending demise and psychologically interpret that measurement in terms of time is a gift as well as a sickness.
Relates
This idea relates to the work I have started to make incorporating video and the element of time into the discussion of evolution, preservation/obsolescence and measurement. When I started to make the video, I was not entirely clear what the element of time would do to the concept. I am still not quite sure of this in terms of the specific unfinished piece, however, I am grasping the nuances in the medium in relation to my concept better now. The definition of time is a lengthy one, and removed from the idea of the human perception of time and instinctual reactions of humans to this perception. These reactions are the basis for my concept. Human organisms reproduce to survive, but are also finding modern ways to literally reproduce themselves to literally survive. Cloning, stem cell research, etc. The unwillingness to accept mortality has led to a culture void of finality as well as understanding of such a terminal concept. The element of time, I am finding, is a very important piece of my concept, because it creates an environment in which the viewer can have sensory participation in humanity's race toward obsolescence.
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