Tempus fugit, time flies
By: edited by Jan Schall.
Contributors: Schall, Jan, 1952-; Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
Publisher: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Published: 2000
Place of publication: Kansas City, MO
Language: eng
Number of pages: 356
Subjects: Time in art -- Exhibitions; Time perception -- Exhibitions; Art -- Conservation and restoration -- Exhibitions
Genres: Exhibitions.
Other titles: Time flies
Description: Tempus Fugit: Time Flies examines time as both natural phenomenon and cultural construct, as manifested in works of art dating from 900 BCE to the present. Essays by 23 scholars explore the relativity of time.

One section of the book looks closely at time as a dominant concern in 20th-century art. From Einsteinian spacetime, Bergsonian subjective duration, and Freudian non-linear dreamtime, with their respective impacts upon art of the early century, to late-century involvements with critical theory and time-based art (performance, video, and electronic intermedia), this century's reinvention of time and altered notions of history are considered.

A second section explores the meanings of time embodied in works of art from 12 world cultures. Assyrian eternal time, Medieval European apocalyptic time, Indian cosmic, cyclical time, African ancestral time, Native American episodic temporality, and the complex calendrics of the Maya are among the subjects explored.

The final section addresses time from the perspective of those charged with rescuing and protecting works of art from the ravages of time: art conservators. Both the creative time of the artist and the patina of time acquired by the art object are documented.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Catalog of an exhibition to be held at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Oct. 15 - Dec. 31, 2000.