The
Refusal of Time
review by Justin
Dormitzer
You won’t know where to look in the installation The Refusal of Time at the Institute of
Contemporary Art in Boston. The installation was created by William Kentridge
to show the idea of special relativity which states that time can move at
different speeds for different people. That goes against the idea that time can
be standardized for everybody. The latter was a popular idea in the late 19th
century and early 20th century when the installation is supposed to
take place.
The installation is comprised of five projection
screens and a big device in the center of it. The screens show almost the same
events happening at slightly different times and with minor differences. For
example there are metronomes on all five screens that start out all at the same
tempo but then start going at different speeds. This conveys a sense of
franticness which is a common theme throughout the entire thirty minutes of the
piece. The atmosphere of the installation is very dark and there is a sense of
chaos around the entire thing.
While it was not repetitive, the individual sections
of the piece stretched out for a very long time. While this made the entire
presentation longer it also made it less interesting at parts. For example, in
one of the parts there is a person stepping over a chair and this would’ve been
okay but it went on for a very long time and even after it was done it came
back later in the installation. There are other examples of this throughout the
installation as well. Overall, the refusal of time was a thought provoking
piece, well worth the half an hour run time.
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