Time and Motion
One problem artists face when creating static (singular, fixed images) is how to imbue them with a sense of time and motion. Some traditional solutions to this problem employ the use of spatial relationships, especially perspective, and atmospheric perspective. Artists also use scale and proportion to show the passage of time or the illusion of depth and movement.
For example, as something recedes into the background, it becomes smaller in scale and lighter in value. Also, the same figure (or another form) repeated in different places within the same image gives the effect of movement and the passage of time. Read this explanation of time and motion.
An early example of an artist's attempt to convey movement and the passage of time is in the carved sculpture of Kuya Shonin.
The Buddhist monk leans forward, and his cloak seems to move with the
breeze of his steps. The figure is remarkably realistic in style, his
head lifted slightly and his mouth open. Six small figures emerge from
his mouth, visual symbols of the chant
he utters.
Visual experiments in movement were first produced in the middle of
the 19th century. Photographer Eadweard Muybridge snapped black-and-white sequences of figures and animals walking, running, and jumping,
then placed them side-by-side to examine the
mechanics and rhythms created by each action.
Eadweard Muybridge, sequences of himself throwing a disc, using a step, and walking.
In the modern era, the rise of cubism (refer to our study
of "space") and related styles in modern painting and
sculpture had a major effect on how static works of art depict time and
movement. These new developments in form
came about, in part, through the cubist's initial exploration of how
to depict an object and the space around it by representing it from
multiple viewpoints, incorporating all of them into a single image.
Marcel Duchamp's painting Nude Descending a Staircase
from 1912 formally concentrates
Muybridge's idea into a single image. The figure is abstract, a
result of Duchamp's influence by cubism, but gives the viewer a definite
feeling of movement from left to right. This work was exhibited at The Armory Show
in New York City in 1913. The show was the first to exhibit modern art
from the United States and Europe at an American venue on such a large
scale. Controversial and fantastic, the Armory show became a symbol for
the emerging modern art movement. Duchamp's painting is
representative of the new ideas brought forth in the exhibition.
In three dimensions, the effect of movement is achieved by imbuing the
subject matter with a dynamic pose or gesture (recall that the use of
diagonals in the composition helps create a sense of movement). Gian
Lorenzo Bernini's sculpture of David
from 1623 studies coiled visual tension and movement. The artist
shows us the figure of David with furrowed brow, even biting his lip in
concentration as he eyes Goliath and prepares to release the rock from
his sling.
The temporal arts of film, video, and digital projection, by their definition, show movement and the passage of time. In all of these mediums, we watch as a narrative unfolds before our eyes. Film is essentially thousands of static images divided onto one long roll of film that is passed through a lens at a certain speed. From this apparatus comes the term "movies."
Video uses magnetic tape to achieve the same effect, and digital media streams millions of electronically pixilated images across the screen. An example is seen in the work of Swedish Artist Pipilotti Rist. Her large-scale digital work Pour Your Body Out is fluid, colorful, and absolutely absorbing as it unfolds across the walls.
Saylor Academy Knowledge Check
Source: Christopher Gildow, http://opencourselibrary.org/art-100-art-appreciation/
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.