“Duration-object” A materialist animation to perceive time in the form of folded extra dimensions

Abstract

Time flies out of reach of the human’s sensory organ, apparently because time never stops and no two instants coexist. But string theory says past, present and future might coexist in extra dimensions. If that is the case, hyperspaces’ perception of time can stand as a supplement to the known. If our perception of time is only a shadow which is cast onto our three-dimensional space, what will the hidden appearance of time be like? From a philosophical aspect, this dissertation follows Henri Bergson’s theory and reinvestigates his “duration” concept within the context of an extra dimension. In addition, I follow Gilles Deleuze’s attempt to represent duration, he was confronted with a technical limitation of cinema and proposed the concept: “movement-image” to complete duration in the rule of consciousness. Following that, I neologize “duration-object” as a probe to represent duration in a physical form by collapsing time into the three dimensions. My duration-object concept aims at building a bodily-connection between the hyper-dimensional manifestation of time and spectators. Case studies of related artworks position the duration-object as a materialist animation by spotting the mechanism in pre-cinema apparatus, the video installation art spectatorship and the opening up of kinetic art in it. In my work, sculpture-animation, a volumetric display of movement, is utilised to construct “duration-object”. When the movement which inhabits within my duration-object is unfolded by the moving light plane, a simultaneous multi-dimensional manifestation of time will be provided when the perception rests in the realm of the body. This thesis intends to propose a possible approach to enable people to seize time in the framework of hyperspaces with their sensory system.