TIME
Time is the fourth dimension, and has many ways of presenting itself. It refers to change, a passage of time, and the progression of events from past to present to future. Time is a concept that can be measured and experienced in many different ways, affecting the artistic world in a multitude of possibilities. Some may rely on actual passage of time, some may not rely on time but infer the passage of time, and some may only be relevant or present during certain times.
There are multiple categories of time discussed in this article, all of which affect art in different ways. Measured time is the same as clock time, and can sometimes be reflected in works of art to coincide with the local time of people viewing the piece. Pieces that rely heavily on measured time often demand patience from the audience, which can work to the pieces advantage or disadvantage. Experienced time is another common category used in art and media. It is the inferred passage of time through a work that is most often shorter and done to summarize a certain amount of time. For example, many movies may cover days, weeks, months, or even years of time, but only screen for 2 hours. The footage itself allows the viewer to understand the inferred passage of time without having to actually witness it. There is also running time, which refers to the total length of time a piece runs. It is often used to describe media like tv or cinema, or live events. Biological time is another category, referring to the internal clock of the viewers. For example their biological clock tells them when to sleep, eat, etc. Lastly, the article discussed digital time, referring to technology and time in the digital world.
"The Clock" by Christian Marclay (2010)
I chose to add Christian Marclay's "The Clock", because I remember watching a few minutes of this piece in class and I thought it was very interesting. I think it is one of the best examples of measured time in art, and I think the original concept is a very unique idea. I do think however that it can run into some problems and be a bit controversial. The idea itself is the artist's original work, but the content used in the work belongs to other people, so I feel like it almost lessens the value of the work. I think if the artist could have found a way to incorporate the same idea using their own creations or videography or film work, it could have had a larger impact.
SOUND
Sound is a form of sensory communication through vibrations perceived by the ear. Sound itself has three main components: attack, sustain, and decay. These mark the onset, continuity, and dissipation of any sound. They also convey information to the person listening, such as the speed something is traveling, the distance something is away from something else, or the emotion a certain visual is meant to convey.
There are also different categories of sound, relating them to how they interact with a paired visual. These can be very common in things like movies, television, video games, and even performance art. Synchronous sounds are timed to match with something that is shown on a screen. examples of this can be a person talking, or a visual of something falling while hearing the "thud" made by the object. Nonsynchronous sounds are sounds that do not match the visual, but hint to something that is about to be shown. An example of this would be in a show or video game if a character hears the crackling sound of a fire, but it is not shown on screen yet. It gives a foreshadowing to the viewer of what is to come, and is usually followed by a shot of the fire heard in the clips before. Asynchronous sounds do not match what is being visually presented at all, and often are used to imply a certain action or emotion in a scene without ever actually showing it. Lastly there are diegetic and non-diegetic sounds, which are actual sounds and commentary sounds, respectively.
screenshot from Annea Lockwood's website of the performance "Becoming Air" (2018)
I chose this piece because I found it really interesting and unique how instruments were utilized in this piece in an unconventional way. I also really liked that the use of just the trumpet throughout the piece was able to portray so many different sounds. I thought that as a whole the piece created was someone spooky and invoked fear and even anxiety in the person listening to it, which I thought was very cool considering the sounds were only made by a couple of instruments.
MOVEMENT
The concept of movement is something that is present and crucial in almost every piece of 4D art. It can be affected by so many aspects, such as balance, weight, energy, shape, and space. There can be many different ways movement is represented in a piece as well. It can be through physical movement of a sculpture or object, movement of a performer, camera angle movement, or even implied movement through use of many different techniques.
There are two different types of movement often found in 3D art. The first is called successional movement, and its purpose is to lead the viewer's eyes in one specific direction. Oppositional movement on the other hand seeks to break the viewer's focus from the successional movement and move the viewers' eyes to something else, that clashes in another direction. Stillness is also something that is utilized in 4D art that can further emphasize movement, by creating a strong sense of contrast. Movement relates to sound in the sense that there is an attack, sustain, and decay aspect of each gesture, and each part can have significant effects on the final result of the piece. Movement is something found most commonly in film and video, and is one of the most crucial and important techniques in any piece of video work. Camera movement or movement of the subject(s) being filmed, or even a combination of both can all be used as ways to emphasize certain emotions, build suspense, or even just set a mood.
clip from the animated series "Final Space" created by Olan Rogers
For the movement aspect, I chose one of my favorite clips from Final Space. This clip from the show is my favorite specifically because of the camera angles utilized. The moment the two characters are reaching for each other, the "camera" perspective does a giant circle around them, both creating a sense of urgency and suspense, and also emphasizing the giant scale of the vast amount of space around them. It allows the viewer to almost step into the characters' minds and feel what they are feeling, and you get a real sense that besides the two of them, there is literally NOTHING else around, and they are each others' only hope at survival.
I always find it insanely impressive when 2D animated cartoons can pull off camera movement angles that exist outside of the two- dimensional plane, because it adds so much depth to the environment and the objects/characters in it, and is quite difficult to do correctly in the 2D world.
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