Imagine if we could stop time—if we could press pause on the relentless clock and hold onto a single moment. What would that be like? Total silence. It’s a captivating thought, and this idea forms the core of my current artistic exploration.
In this post I have compiled a selection of artists that explore these similar themes of natural decay and the aging process as well as the suspension of time, that I have come across in my research and creative deep dive.
Melting Men, by Néle Azevedo, 2002
Brazilian artist Néle Azevedo’s Melting Men installation was arranged in a variety of different locations around the world including Brasilia, Tokyo, Belfast and Florence. Around 1200 ice sculptures representing men sat on the steps of famous monuments and melted throughout the duration of the day. The work represented the contrast between the longevity of the monuments on which the ice figurines were arranged and the ephemeral nature of contemporary art.
Untitled (Perfect Lovers), by Félix González-Torres, 1987-1990
This installation consisted of two visually identical clocks placed side by side and initially synchronized perfectly. However, as time passes they gradually fall out of sync. This work was conceived around the time that the partner of the Cuban-born American artist was diagnosed with AIDS. At the time, the prognosis of the disease was often death. The artwork marks the mortality that exists between two lovers.
every... page of the Holy Qur'an, by Idris Khan, 2004
Through his work Idris Khan uses photomechanical techniques of reproduction, such as scanning and photographing, to copy source material and then digitally build up layers often on top of each other. In other works he photographs source material and rephotographs until there only a trace of the original image remains. Through these techniques he is interested in exploring the layering of meaning and experience.In every... page of the Holy Qur'an, the artist layered up every page of the holy book so every page could be seen in one image – representing the passage of time and experience of texts that are designed to be read over and over again.
Still Life, by Sam Taylor Wood, 2001
Some things decay in a day, others take thousands of years which is shown in the juxtaposition between the rotting fruit next to a ballpoint pen shown in the film work Still Life by Sam Taylor Wood. Over time spores of mold and fungi are spread through the air while the plastic remains relatively unchanged. Back in 2001 little was known publicly about microplastics but now the work takes on an additional meaning as to how damaging plastic is on a microscopic level once it starts to decay – a silent killer in the life cycle of inanimate objects.
Machine with Concrete, by Arthur Ganson, 2009
The kinetic sculpture Machine with Concrete, had a specific gear structure that the artist claims would take over two trillion years for the final gear to make one turn. However, by the time the final gear has its chance to turn, it will not be able to as it is embedded in concrete. A follow up to this work was another machine titled Beholding the Big Bang, with a gear reduction of 13.7 billion years – the estimated age of the universe since the big bang.
Time Lapse: Four Photographs of Rays of Sunlight in Grand Central Station, by Penelope Umbrico, 2016
In this moving image piece, often projected on a large scale within a gallery space, Penelope Umbrico collected hundreds of images of the iconic monochrome photograph of sun rays streaming through the Grand Central Station windows in New York. The artist then compiled each image so they dissolved into the other creating what seems like a time-lapse video. The artist wanted to play on the two colliding modes of timekeeping: the natural regularity of solar time represented by the rays of light and the standardized rail time at Grands Central Station. Then of course there is the warped sense of time experienced by the viewer watching the nostalgic rendition of the images that range from photos produced in 1903 to more recently in 2010.
Please share your favorite artworks about decay and passage of time below in the comments.
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