Times of Experience, Ways of Beholding

Time is of the essence in human affairs. In the 18th century, geology discovered its unfathomable depths and the sciences sought to place every organism on a timeline. Just as the earth acquired a history, architecture and art found ways of locating themselves in a perspective that vanishes in the anthropocene, urging fresh inquiry into artistic perception. Whether we consider the city a heap of materials, the Eiffel Tower a metallurgical monument comparable to Richard Wagner's lengthy operas, or capture an angle of Paris in a sketch Alberto Giacometti made in the brief interval of changing traffic lights, the ways we behold things and experience them always bears the imprint of (father) time.