Speed, Space, and Time: A Philosophical Critique of Ubiquity in Contemporary Art
In Artpress, Élie During discusses how contemporary art and theory tackle the ideas of speed and constant presence. He argues that Paul Virilio’s doomsday view on instant connectivity misreads Einstein’s relativity, which actually shows that light travels at a specific speed and does not allow for absolute simultaneity. During believes that our grasp of space-time should be more sophisticated. He looks at how artists like Dan Graham, Bill Viola, Douglas Gordon, and Mark Lewis explore concepts of time delays and different experiences of simultaneity. He also critiques locative media groups for often promoting nostalgia or instantaneity. The essay highlights projects like iSee, which helps navigate around surveillance in Manhattan, and calls for valuing time without romanticizing slowness against capitalist influences.
Key facts
- Élie During is a philosophy professor at Université Paris-Nanterre and teaches at École nationale des beaux-arts de Paris.
- The essay was published in Artpress in March 2009.
- During references Paul Virilio's concept of 'compression' of space and time.
- During critiques Virilio's misunderstanding of Einstein's relativity, which establishes a finite speed of light.
- Dan Graham's works Two Correlated Rotations (1970) and Present Continuous Past(s) (1974) are cited as examples of relativistic space-time.
- Other artists mentioned include Bill Viola, Douglas Gordon, and Mark Lewis.
- Locative media groups like Blast Theory, Institute for Applied Autonomy, The Ludic Society, Fujihata, and Tanaka are discussed.
- The iSee project by Institute for Applied Autonomy maps surveillance cameras in Manhattan.
- During references Marshall McLuhan's 'global village' and Buckminster Fuller's 'spaceship Earth'.
- The essay mentions Jacob von Uexküll's concept of animal worlds.
Entities
Artists
- Élie During
- Paul Virilio
- Dan Graham
- Bill Viola
- Douglas Gordon
- Mark Lewis
- Marshall McLuhan
- Buckminster Fuller
- Fujihata
- Tanaka
- Jacob von Uexküll
- Scanner
- Bruno Latour
- Marinetti
- Gogol
- Bonhoeffer
- David Harvey
- Einstein
Institutions
- Artpress
- Université Paris-Nanterre
- École nationale des beaux-arts de Paris
- Blast Theory
- Institute for Applied Autonomy
- The Ludic Society
Locations
- Paris
- France
- Manhattan
- New York
- United States
Sources
- artpress —