Elements of 4D_Sage

 

Elements of 4D: Time

Summary:

    When people think of the boundaries of art, they typically think of the three dimensions: height, width, and depth. However, many fail to consider the fourth dimension, time. Time is defined as the progression of events and existence from the past, through the present, and into the future. In art, time is used more often than people may think, whether that be in music, film, animation, theater, or even gallery pieces. Additionally, there are many different forms of time that can be utilized in this aptly named 4D artwork. These forms include: measured time, experienced time, running time, biological time, and digital time. While these all may seem very similar, they can actually affect the success and appeal of an art piece in very drastic ways.

    For example, measured time, which is probably one of the most commonly known category of time, involves time measured through regularly occurring intervals, like months, weeks, moon cycles, etc. Live performance art, relies heavily on this form of time. 

    Alternatively, there is experienced time, of the time an audience perceives to pass through the duration of a 4D piece. A good example of experienced time is how, when one plays a video game or watches an entertaining movie, several hours may feel like a brief passage of minutes. Slow footage or music can be used to increase or slow down experience time while fast paced footage and music may be used to decrease or speed it up.

    Another category of time is running time, which includes the total duration or a live event or video piece. The article notes that most feature films range from 90 minutes to 2 hours long as an example, and also makes note of plot time, which represents the time covered within a work. For example, a coming-of-age movie that is 90 minutes could tell the story of a character's 30 years of living.

    An interesting, far less considered form of time in regards to art is biological time. This includes the measure of time related to bodily functions. An example of this used in art comes in a piece by Melissa Havilland in which people were offered cookies that they had just seen printed on a screen. In this case, a viewer's hunger was crucial to their experience of the work.

    The final category of time in art is digital time. Digital time is measured in milliseconds and is often associated with technology; it elicits an intense awareness of time. For instance, when a person is waiting for an add to pass so they may watch their video online or a television episode, they may grow impatient.

Piece: Over the Garden Wall

Creator: Patrick McHale

    This is a GIF from my favorite animated show, Over the Garden Wall. I love this show because it includes interesting subject matter, utilizes a style and color palette that I find very enjoyable, and includes an amazing soundtrack. Over the Garden Wall is an example of 4D art because it utilizes sound, visuals, movement, and time. The specific forms of time in this work include measured time, (every episode is the same length) experienced time (since it is entertaining to me, the time it takes me to watch the entirety of the show feels very brief) and running and plot time (although each episode is only 11 minutes long, making the show 110 minutes in total, the characters in the show spend many nights in the "Unknown". Through this artwork, and the help of the article, I realized that some of my favorite art, such as animated shows and movies, are included as forms of 4D art since they rely heavily on the duration of time.

Elements of 4D: Sound

Summary:

Another important element of fourth dimensional art that may go overlooked is sound. Sound may be defined as a vibration that can be perceived by the ear, and it is a crucial part of many forms of art such as music, film, theater, and much more. Just as there were many aspects to the use of time in art, there are also many aspects to the use of sound.

For example, every sound in itself can be simplified to three basic parts. These sections include the attack, sustain, and decay. The attack of a sound represents the period that exists from the very beginning of the sound to when it meets its peak. Alternatively, the sustain if a sound refers to the period of time from a sounds peak to its decay, meaning the end.

Additionally, sound can be categorized into different groups--synchronous, non-synchronous, and asynchronous sound. Synchronous sounds are those that line up with their visuals presented on-screen or in a performance. This category of sound can include lines spoken by characters or effects that viewers can visually perceive the source of. On the other hand, Non-synchronous sounds refer to those that play off-screen or out of the viewers perception. Typically the sources of these sounds make an appearance sometime before or after the sound itself occurs. Finally, asynchronous sounds are those that don't align with their visuals, and can be utilized to demonstrate inner emotions.

Furthermore there are diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. Diegetic sounds or "actual" sounds include character lines, sounds made by objects within the piece and ambient sounds. Non-diegetic sounds or "commentary" sounds can include third person narration in a piece or some of the surreal onomatopoeia in cartoons.

Piece: Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story

Creators: Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan

While reading through the article about sound, particularly the section about asynchronous sound, I couldn't help but be reminded of the Netflix original, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, which I had recently watched with my mother during October break. This piece tells the most accurate history of the serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer and the families impacted by his heinous crimes to date. In one of the episodes in particular, Dahmer's neighbor Glenda Cleveland imagines the sounds of one of Dahmer's victims screaming through the vents. While these sounds are only a part of Cleveland's horrific flashback, her neighbor being long since behind bars, they still feel incredibly real to the viewer. This example of asynchronous sound allows viewers to step into the mind of Glenda Cleveland and feel as if they themselves have been affected by the cruelty of a killer.

Elements of 4D: Movement

Summary:

In addition to sound and time, movement is another key element of 4D artwork. In this context, it can be defined as a shift in the location of an object, light, or sound, and, like sound, movement can be divided into three distinct parts--attack, sustain, decay. Movement is a very crucial factor in drawing an audiences attention to details of a work. One type of movement is called successional movement, which leads the audiences eyes in one direction. Alternatively, oppositional movement contrasts this with a clash of forces that lead the eye in a different direction. An example of this could be when two characters are fighting in a video game; the audiences eyes trail back and forth between the pair. Stillness, or the lack of movement, is also an important part of drawing attention in 4D art. If a character stands still in a bustling crowd, the audience will be drawn to them first.

In film and video productions, there are many varying camera shots that can create movement and raw attention to subjects in a piece. Some basic camera techniques include pan, tilt, dolly, and zoom. A pan shot references to pivoting the camera from side to side, while a tilt refers to pivoting up and down. A tracking or dolly shot moves the camera parallel to the ground and can be used to follow or back off from a character as they move about their environment. Finally, a camera can use its zoom feature to make an image larger or smaller, or a subject appear closer or farther, without moving the camera itself.

Piece: The Gust of Wind

Creator: Camille Corot

Rather than finding a piece of media I like that exemplifies a specific principle discussed in the article, I decided to try my best to find an example of two-dimensional art that portrays movement well. I decided to do this to reiterate how motion is not only a crucial aspect of 4D, but also for all other forms of art as well. This piece, titled The Gust of Wind by Camille Corot does an amazing job of capturing the movement of a strong gust of wind through the trees. Viewers can almost feel the way the subject in the piece is fighting against the wind to continue on their way as even the grass and clouds are painted with expressive strokes following the breeze.