Using the element of Time (capturing specific moments in time; manipulating our perception of time; documenting the passing of time), these works show several different ways artists can illustrate the idea of "change" or the concept of an object's environment changing that object over time.
This collector set represents a tour created for the Art Today + Tomorrow partnership pilot program.
Paul Shambroom
1987 Toyota Celica, 500 lbs ANFO explosive (Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center (EMRTC), New Mexico Tech, Socorro, NM) (2005)
Size: framed 43 x 63.875 x 2 inches
This work is a perfect jumping-off point to talk about photography and introduce the idea of the "document". Documentary photography can capture a simple moment in time, or can tell a quite complex story.
What do you notice in this photo? Use your imagination to think of the story behind this photo.
Now, read the title of the work. Does the title give the viewer any clues as to what happened?
Why did the artist choose to capture this moment? What do you think happened before this moment? How soon before? (Five minutes? Six months?)
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Artist: Andy Warhol
Date: 1964
Size: unframed 80.375 x 64.375 x inches
This work is a perfect transition from traditional photography to other forms of art.
How is this work different from the previous artwork?
Explain that the artist used other people's photos for this work ("appropriation"). Where do you think he got them? Why use someone else's work? Why do you think he picked the ones he did?
What do you notice about the subject? Does this work tell a story? What might you guess about the moments these photos capture? Does the subject change from one photo to the next?
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Artist: Raymond Hains
Date: 1959-1960 / 2002
Size: overall installed 79.75 x 114.375 inches
This work documents change, but how? Does this work capture a moment in time? Or a span of time? Or both?
Who is the artist of this work, and what role did they play? Were there other people who helped make this work? Are the ideas of time and change important to this "collaboration"?
How else do you see time and change represented in this work? (Rust: a chemical change in the metal material)
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Artist: Daniel Spoerri
Date: 1964
Medium: Sculpture, Sculptures
Size: overall 21.25 x 25.1875 x 11 inches
Now we will examine some artworks that use less traditional ways to look at time. What do you notice about this work?
How is the artist using the element of time? How do you think this artwork represents the idea of change? What do you think it would look like a few minutes earlier? A few minutes later?
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Bruce Conner
Still from Crossroads, 1976
35mm film transferred to video (black and white, sound)
This work reminds us of the many film and video works featured in Event Horizon. Film/video media artworks allow an artist to document an event in real time or, as in Connor's case, to manipulate time.
How much time is actually represented in this work? How did the artist change how we see time pass in this work?
How does speeding up, slowing down or repeating an event change a viewer's perception or understanding of the event?
What role do film and video play in an art museum? Why would an artist choose to use these media?
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Artist: Jeff Wall
Date: 1999
Medium: Photographs
Size: overall 81.125 x 145.75 x 10.25 inches
In this work, the artist has captured a moment in time where nothing special is happening. Or has he?
Do photographs always "tell the truth"? Are there ways that an artist can make us believe something that's not necessarily true or that may have never happened?
How else do you see time and change shown in this work? (marble wall: geological time/changes)
(the weather outside: seasonal changes, nature)
FYI: Setting is Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's pavilion for the International Exhibition of 1929, held in Barcelona. The pavilion was reconstructed in the 1980s and is now permanently open to the public.
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Artist: Peter Fischli, David Weiss
Date: 1995-1996
Medium: Sculpture, Sculptures
If artists can make photographs that don't tell the whole truth, can other artists use different art forms to do the same?
What do you notice about this work? What do you think happened?
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Artist: Olafur Eliasson
Date: 1995-2000
Medium: Sculpture, Sculptures
Size: mirror 63.375 x 63.375 x 1.125 inches
This work manifests time and change in a very unique way, but we may have to sit still for a moment and be patient to understand how. Let's spend a minute in front of this work, taking it in through all our senses before we begin discussion.
Is time important to how we experience this work? What changes? What causes the change?
(reflection distorts as mirror moves in/out)
(our reflection changes if we move around)
Are there aspects of this work that do not change?
(constant rhythm of sound, like breathing or a heartbeat)
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Artist: Trisha Donnelly
Date: 2008
Medium: Sculpture, Sculptures
Other works in the galleries may grab students' interest. In many cases, this could lead to interesting conversations. Encourage the students to explore the work using Critical Response protocol.
What do you notice about this work? How do you see time and/or change represented in this artwork?
Some ideas that might come up: historical look at time; contrast of ancient times and modern times; find changes between the two not-quite-identical sculptures.
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Artist: Mike Kelley
Date: 2002
Medium: Mixed media, Media Arts, Multimedia
Other works in the galleries may grab students' interest. In many cases, this could lead to interesting conversations. Encourage the students to explore the work using Critical Response protocol.
What do you notice about this work? How do you see time and/or change represented in this artwork?
If viewing the mobile, you could address what a mobile is. Does our experience of this piece change over time? Or as we move around it?
If viewing the framed drawing, you could address memory, and how time changes our memory of things or events. Have you ever tried drawing something from memory?
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Artist: Paul Chan
Date: 2007
Medium: Media Arts, Videotapes/Videodiscs, Audio-Video
Other works in the galleries may grab students' interest. In many cases, this could lead to interesting conversations. Encourage the students to explore the work using Critical Response protocol.
What do you notice about this work? How do you see time and/or change represented in this artwork?
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Artist: On Kawara
Date: 1989
Medium: Paintings
Size: overall installed 10.125 x 105 x 1.875 inches
Institution: Walker Art Center
Accession #: 1991.90.1-.5
This piece is not currently on display in Event Horizon; it is included to give additional examples of artists who address the element of time and/or the effects of change in different ways.
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Artist: Gabriel Orozco
Date: 1992
Medium: Sculpture, Sculptures
Size: overall installed 14.5 x 15.5 x 16 inches
Institution: Walker Art Center
Accession #: 1996.166
This piece is not currently on display in Event Horizon; it is included to give additional examples of artists who address the element of time and/or the effects of change in different ways.
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