5 - Expressions
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 January 2022
Summary
The diverse motivations from Chapter 3 and practices from Chapter 4 result in spatio-temporal expressions. The ‘spatio-temporal’ connotes the inseparability of space and time in conceptualizing the resulting art space. Massey has long conceptualized space and time as inextricably tied concepts, challenging the dualism privileging one over the other (Massey, 1992; May and Thrift, 2001). The spatiality of the art space is very much dependent on its temporal characteristics, and vice versa – they are mutually constituting, as will be evident throughout this chapter. ‘Expression’ is used to indicate that the manifested art space is an act and not an object. As seen and described, the material consequence of the art space is something that is enacted, not established in the form of a permanent, physical space. Thus, the consequences of the aforementioned practices are described here in terms of the art space as spatio-temporal expressions.
In addition, these spatio-temporal expressions are also attached to various modes of mobility, accessing resources elsewhere. The nature of these expressions is contingent on the mobility of resources, ideas and people. To the extent that this contingency is reflected in the temporary quality of some art spaces, the examples underline the point that ‘mobilities are all about temporality’ (Urry, 2000: 105). Both Urry (2000) and Virilio (1977) examine temporality as a repercussion of new technologies and infrastructures, which inevitably lead to an acceleration characterized by ‘speed’ and ‘instantaneous time’. These conceptualizations of accelerating temporality ultimately imply deterministic notions about the demise of place. For Virilio, temporality is focused on the nexus of speed and power. Through an analysis of the military, he presents a politics of speed that is focused on movement in order to claim territory; it is not about the territory as the source of power, but about the exigency of movement that establishes power. Furthermore, through media technology, he argues that while, previously, ‘Man lived in a time system of his actual presence: when he wasn't there, he wasn't there. Today we are entering a space which is speed-space’ (Virilio, 2001: 70).
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- Engaging Comparative UrbanismArt Spaces in Beijing and Berlin, pp. 83 - 118Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2020