TIME PERCEPTION THROUGH NARRATIVE

AND SEMIOTICS IN ARTISTIC CREATION

0 4 – 2 0 0 6 | T H AN O S Z AK O P O U L O S
CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION

2. REFLECTIONS ON THE PERCEPTION OF TIME THROUGH

NARRATIVE BASED ON PAUL RICOEUR’S TIME AND
NARRATIVE
A) FROM AUGUSTINE’S CONFESSIONS TO RICOEUR’S
EXPERIENCE OF TIME

B) FROM ARISTOTLE’S POETICS TO RICOEUR’S NARRATIVITY

C) THOUGHTS ON THE CONCEPT OF TIME AND NARRATIVITY
AFTER RICOEUR

3. NARRATIVITY IN GREIMAS AND THE SEMIOTIC SQUARE

A) OVERVIEW OF NARRATIVE SEMIOTICS IN GREIMAS
B) THE SEMIOTIC SQUARE
C) POSSIBLE APPLICATIONS OF THE SEMIOTIC SQUARE IN ART
IN RELATION TO TIME PERCEPTION

4. RELATION TO ART AND CONTEMPORARY EXAMPLES

A) TIME PERCEPTION IN CONTEMPORARY ART
B) TWO CASE STUDIES
i. JOHN CAGE AND THE EXPERIENCE OF 'SILENCE'
ii. BRUCE NAUMAN AND THE HUMAN PRESENCE IN SPACE

5. PERSONAL WORK PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

A) CLOSED VISUAL NARRATIVE
B) OPEN VISUAL NARRATIVE
C) WORK PROPOSAL BASED ON OPEN VISUAL NARRATIVE

6. CONCLUSIVE THOUGHTS
2
1. INTRODUCTION

Steven Hawking concluded one of his lectures1 regarding the beginning of

time by saying that the universe, and time itself, has started in the Big
Bang about 15 billion years ago and that the beginning of real time would
have been a singularity, at which the laws of physics would have broken
down. From that point and on time has existed for us; a concept that
everybody is familiar with but nobody can still comprehend or explain fully.
The notion of time has always been one of the great enigmas of humanity
and a subject which has kept thinkers and creators alike occupied and
continuous to do so. Whatever we do or think is 'within' time and our very
existence is conditioned by it. Inevitably time has been one of the most
dealt-with subjects of philosophy since the beginning of rational thought.
There have been written numerous essays and books regarding the
subject, always building upon existing knowledge while continuously
enriching it with new approaches. A contemporary example of such is a
short essay by Julian Barbour entitled Time, Instants, Duration and
Philosophy2, after the analysis of Bergson’s Duration and Simultaneity3
and Bachelards’s essay 'The Instant'4. This essay provides a few
enlightening comments regarding the very nature of time and the 'limits' of
philosophical approach and will serve as the starting point of this
introduction.

1
In the University of Cambridge where he holds the historic chair that Newton had once.
2
Included in the book Time & the Instant, essays in the physics and philosophy of time,
ed. Robin Durie (Clinamen Press, Manchester, 2000).
3
Henri Bergson, Duration and Simultaneity: Bergson and the Einsteinian Universe
(trans. L. Jacobson, M. Lewis & R. Durie, ed. R. Durie, Clinamen Press, Manchester,
1999).
4
Gaston Bachelard, The Instant (trans. M. MacAllester Jones) also included in the book
Time & the Instant. Originaly published as L’Intutition de l’instant (Editions Stock, Paris,
1931).
3
Barbour explains mainly in his text how Bergson’s philosophy of duration
and his notion of the 'static instant' cannot form nowadays a plausible
explanation to the problem of time. Furthermore he expounds how
Bachelard’s philosophy of the 'instant' (based on Gaston Roupnel’s Siloë5),
which forms in a sense a reaction to Bergson’s theory, fails to grasp the
true meaning of such (the 'instant') since it remains only a description of an
event as a single point within four-dimensional spacetime (as opposed to a
larger notion of the instant, described as 'Now' by Barbour6). As it is
expected Barbour’s analysis, employing the help of scientific support,
makes its’ way through the philosophical notions concerning time
unscathed, only to stop in its’ turn further up the road. It maybe probable,
as he suggests, that the true nature of time cannot be revealed through
'intuition' as Bergson hopped but it is going to be science via quantum
mechanics and astrophysics (or other disciplines yet to find a name) to
give the answer. The most important think that comes out of this text
though is that there are certainly many things concerning time that neither
philosophy nor even science alone can resolve at this point. One of these
is time perception; that is how human beings perceive the very existence
of time.

Art has always been known to cover the gaps between rational thought
and practical experimentation with its’ suggestive nature. Artists -in my
opinion- have never claimed to have the answers to everything but through
their creations they have always tried to suggest alternative ways of seeing
life and the aporias that surround our very existence. Time inevitably has
always been central to artistic creation in one way or another. In classical
representation (early painting and sculpture) it was usually depicted in a
figurative way taking after the lore and culture of the period, something
which changed completely in the previous century with the introduction of
photography and film. These new media not only incorporated time within
their constructive nature in a unique manner but also opened the way for a
completely new reflection on the way time was perceived. People could
now see themselves in real time whilst they were doing something else

5
'Time has only one reality, the reality of the Instant': this is the metaphysical idea
central to Gaston Roupnel’s Siloë (Paris, 1927).
6
A simple example is given in Barbour’s short essay that illustrates the difference
between the two, but for a more profound analysis one would have to look his book The
End of Time (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1999).
4
being presented thus with a new reality. This in a sense represented the
era of modernism which was occupied extensively with concepts of time
representation throughout its disciplines. Art as a whole though has
matured only in the last thirty to forty years and is able today to
comprehend and permit all kind of thinking and expression. On the other
hand exactly due to its continuous expansion (regarding thematic,
disciplines, expressions, etc) art more and more seeks new stimuli and
knowledge from diverse fields such as psychology, biology and computer
science to name but a few. When it comes to subjects as large and difficult
to confront as time perception, art inevitably needs to borrow new tools. It
is exactly in this continuous search for instruments, which can assist the
creative process, that my small research is aimed. In my case I have
chosen, as an instrument towards a better understanding of the subject of
time, the field of semiotics and in particular Greima’s Narrative Semiotics
along with the Semiotic Square. Semiotics has always been near the world
of arts from an analytic point of view (Semiotics of Art). My thesis though
suggests a different usage, a constructive one. I believe that semiotics (as
well as other similar disciplines) can be used in art during the creational
process; that is, as a constructive tool which allows the artist to have a
larger control over the composition of his work utilising cognitive
mechanisms and inbuilt 'languages'. Having to deal with the notion of time
(and bearing in mind the vastness of the topic) I needed a strong
supportive source in order to better understand the subject and connect it
at the same time with Greimas’ semiotic theory. This I found in Paul
Ricoeur and in his three-volume book Time and Narrative which provided
me with an excellent basis as to the philosophy of time from a hermeneutic
angle. This is discussed in the next chapter of the present paper. From
there I move to the theories of Greimas and the semiotic square reflecting
also on possible applications in the field of arts. Chapter four looks at how
contemporary art deals with time perception especially through the
experiences of John Cage and Bruce Nauman and in addition I illustrate
some personal artistic work where the methods discussed have been
applied. The final chapter has predictably a conclusive character
presenting thus my thoughts as to how semiotics used in an inverse
manner can provide art with useful constructive tools on a compositional
level.

5
2.
REFLECTIONS ON THE PERCEPTION OF TIME
THROUGH NARRATIVE BASED ON PAUL RICOEUR’S
TIME AND NARRATIVE

The first part of my research looks upon Paul Ricoeur’s Time and
Narrative. This three volume work was chosen as the starting point of my
reflection since it provides an in-depth study at the concept of time.
Furthermore Ricoeur, as sustained by Paolo Fabbri7, succeeds thanks to
his phenomenological tradition in connecting the theory of narrativity to that
of the philosophy of hermeneutics utilising nothing else than the concept of
time itself. A narrativity that, as we shall see later on, is not limited in verbal
or written recounting but can have instead various forms of expression. I
cannot pretend of course to have the philosophical and literate background
in order to take full advantage of this immense work that spans
chronologically and conceptually to a realm which is beyond the scope of
this research. I have instead used these three volumes by Paul Ricoeur as
a guideline through the history of the epistemology of time emphasising on
some points which I consider important to my scope. Of particular interest
to me has been the first volume of Time and Narrative where Ricoeur
reviews the theories of Augustine (regarding time) and Aristotle (regarding
narrative) and builds upon them his own. It is exactly upon these that I
have concentrated and I analyse them below.

7
La Svolta Semiotica, p.34 (Editori Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2003).
6
FROM AUGUSTINE’S CONFESSIONS TO RICOEUR’S EXPERIENCE OF TIME

Inconclusive philosophical engagement with the question of time has a

long and distinguished history. Indeed, anyone pondering the problem
cannot fail to be bewildered by the enigma of time. One of the most sincere
formulations of this experience can be found in Augustine's appropriately
titled Confessions in particular in Book 11 chapter 14:17 (which Ricoeur
rightly enough uses to start his endeavour on time): "What, then, is time? I
know well enough what it is, provided that nobody asks me," he admitted,
"but if I am asked what it is and try to explain, I am baffled."

Everything starts with the well known aporia of the being and the non-
being of time, the argument is presented in a few words as thus: time has
no being since the future is not yet, the past no longer, and the present
does not remain. How then asks Ricoeur8 (TN1, p.7) can time exist if the
past is no longer, if the future is not yet, and if the present is not always?
From this paradox stems another one of equal importance, that of the
measurement of time: How can we measure that which does not exist? In
order to answer that Ricoeur follows the trail of Augustine’s thought as to
the characterisation of human time9. The answer comes directly by
Augustine in the form of what Ricoeur calls the threefold present: "The
present of past things is the memory; the present of present things is direct
perception (attention); and the present of future things is expectation"10.
Furthermore the thesis of the distension of the mind (distentio animi)11 is
introduced in order to resolve the enigma of the extension of a thing that
has no extension (time). What Augustine attempts to do next is to link the
distentio animi to the dialectic of the threefold present. In order to do that
he argues once more (and Ricoeur strongly agrees on that with Augustine)
that time can only be measured when it is passing; not the future which is
not, nor the past which is no longer, nor the present which has no

8
From now on whenever I am referring to Paul Ricoeur’s work Time and Narrative I will
indicate it by TN followed by the volume number and subsequently the reference
page(s). For my research I have utilised the English version translated by K. McLaughlin
& D. Pellauer (The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1984).
9
In particular as presented between chapters 21-31 in Book 11 of Confessions.
10
20:26 Book 11.
11
A detailed description of Augustine’s four arguments that lead to the proclamation of
the phrase: "I see time, therefore, as an extension of some sort" can be found in TN1,
p.14.
7
extension, but 'time passing'. In other words as Ricoeur noticeably sustains
"it is in this very passing, in the transit, that both the multiplicity of the
present and its tearing apart are to be sought" (TN1, p.16) (This I find is a
remark of extreme usefulness when approaching an artwork which deals
with time and as such it will be a point discussed further on during the
formulation of ideas concerning artworks).

Utilising three examples of a sound that is resonating, a sound that has

resonated, and two sounds that resonate one after another, Augustine
succeeds in making the tearing apart (of the present) appear as that of the
threefold present.12 From there arises the conclusion that the
measurement of time owes nothing to that of external motion13. Instead it is
our own mind that measures the things we experience; after they have
passed, the impression (affectio) created by things as they pass remains
there. In the words of Augustine: "for everything which happens leaves an
impression on it, and this impression remains after the thing itself has
ceased to be. It is the impression that I measure, since it is present, not the
thing itself, which makes the impression as it passes".14 Ricoeur of course
is not content with just that, for him the subject is merely starting to open
and he is absolutely right. He argues that the impression which remains in
the 'soul' does so only inasmuch as the mind acts (expects, attends and
remembers) and that it is this very contrast between the three tensions
which constitutes the meaning of distentio15.

Augustine’s invaluable discovery brings us however only up to this point.

From him Ricoeur retains the connection between the distension of the
soul (which is as we have seen the extension of time) to the notion of the
threefold present which though leaves him with a large enigma stemming

12
For a detailed description of the experiments an impeccable presentation by Ricoeur
can be found in TN1, pp.16-18.
13
A thesis that is not though absolute since it is the same Ricoeur (in TN3, p.14) that
admits the necessity of another approach in order to tackle the problem of time given
that Augustine’s distension of mind alone is not capable to obtain the principle for the
measurement of time. Hence Ricoeur takes into consideration Aristotle’s approach from
the IV Book of Physics (Τα Φυσικά) which has a 'natural' approach to the problem
sustaining in principal that time is neither movement nor independent of movement
(219a2), a thesis which I consider fundamental for the scope of this small research.
14
27:36, Book 11.
15
As shown through an illustrious example of a song provided by Augustine in 28:38,
Book 11.
8
from the discordance between the intentions of expectation, attention and
memory. In order to resolve this enigma Ricoeur calls in to action a
narrative model which has as its’ starting point Aristotle’s book of Poetics.

FROM ARISTOTLE’S POETICS TO RICOEUR’S NARRATIVITY

Ricoeur's investigation of narrative is framed by the Aristotelian concepts

of mythos (μύθος) and mimesis (μίμησις) which have, he insists, been
rendered too static in translation; mythos -the organization of events- must
be understood as the dynamic activity of organising, and mimesis -the
imitation or representation of those events- as the active process of
imitating/representing. From this starting-point, he constructs his narrative
theory around an idea of three-fold mimesis (TN1, p.52), that he calls
mimesis1 (prefiguration of the field of action), mimesis2 (configuration of the
field of action), and mimesis3 (refiguration of the field of action).

Mimesis1 (TN1, p.54) describes the way in which the field of human acting
is always already prefigured with certain basic competencies, for example,
competency in the conceptual network of the semantics of action
(expressed in the ability to raise questions of who, how, why, with whom,
against whom, etc.); in the use of symbols (being able to grasp one thing
as standing for something else); and competency in the temporal
structures governing the syntagmatic order of narration (the 'followability' of
a narrative).

Mimesis2 (TN1, p.64) concerns the imaginative configuration of the

elements given in the field of action at the level of mimesis1. Mimesis2
concerns narrative 'emplotment'. Ricoeur describes this level as "the
kingdom of the as if"16. Narrative emplotment brings the diverse elements
of a situation into an imaginative order, in just the same way as does the
plot of a story. Emplotment here has a mediating function. It configures
events, agents and objects and renders those individual elements
meaningful as part of a larger whole in which each takes a place in the
network that constitutes the narrative's response to why, how, who, where,

16
Or in other words the kingdom of fiction, a term that he doesn’t choose though in order
to avoid possible confusions in his subsequent analysis (TN1, p.64).
9
when, etc. By bringing together heterogeneous factors into its syntactical
order emplotment creates a 'concordant discordance', a tensive unity
which functions as a re-description of a situation in which the internal
coherence of the constitutive elements endows them with an explanatory
role. A particularly useful feature of narrative which becomes apparent at
the level mimesis2 is the way in which the linear chronology of emplotment
is able to represent different experiences of time. What is depicted as the
'past' and the 'present' within the plot does not necessarily correspond to
the 'before' and 'after' of its linear, episodic structure. For example, a
narrative may begin with a culminating event, or it may devote long
passages to events depicted as occurring within relatively short periods of
time. Dates and times can be disconnected from their denotative function;
grammatical tenses can be changed, and changes in the tempo and
duration of scenes create a temporality that is 'lived' in the story that does
not coincide with either the time of the world in which the story is read, nor
the time that the unfolding events are said to depict. Another key feature of
mimesis2 is the ability of the internal logic of the narrative unity (created by
emplotment) to endow the connections between the elements of the
narrative with necessity. In this way, emplotment forges a causal continuity
from a temporal succession, and so creates the intelligibility and credibility
of the narrative. Ricoeur argues that the temporal order of the events
depicted in the narrative is simultaneous with the construction of the
necessity that connects those elements into a conceptual unity: from the
structure of one thing after another arises the conceptual relation of one
thing because of another. It is this conversion that so well 'imitates' the
continuity demanded by life and makes it the ideal model for personal
identity and self-understanding.

Mimesis3 (TN1, p.70) concerns the integration of the imaginative or 'fictive'

perspective offered at the level of mimesis2 into actual, lived experience.
Ricoeur's model for this is a phenomenology of reading, which he
describes as "the intersection of the world of the text and the world of the
hearer or reader" (TN1, p.71). Not only are our life stories 'written', they
must also be 'read' and when they are read they are taken as one's own
and integrated into one's identity and self-understanding. Mimesis3 effects
the integration of the hypothetical to the real by anchoring the time
depicted (or recollected) in a dated 'now' and 'then' of actual, lived time.

10
Mimesis is a cyclical interpretative process because it is inserted into the
passage of cosmological17 time. As time passes, our circumstances give
rise to new experiences and new opportunities for reflection. We can re-
describe our past experiences, bringing to light unrealised connections
between agents, actors, circumstances, motives or objects, by drawing
connections between the events retold and events that have occurred
since, or by bringing to light untold details of past events. The concern of
narrative is coherence and structure, not the creation of a particular kind of
experience.

THOUGHTS ON THE CONCEPT OF TIME AND NARRATIVITY AFTER RICOEUR

"Time becomes human time to the extent that it is organised after the
manner of a narrative; narrative, in turn, is meaningful to the extent
that it portrays the features of temporal experience." (TN1, p.3)

Central to Ricoeur's defence of narrative is its capacity to represent the

human experience of time. Such a capacity is an essential requisite for a
reflective philosophy. Ricoeur sets out his account of 'human time' in Time
and Narrative, Volume 3. He points out that we experience time in two
different ways. We experience time as linear succession, we experience
the passing hours and days and the progression of our lives from birth to
death. This is universal (cosmological) time -time expressed in the
metaphor of the 'river' of time. The other is lived (phenomenological) time;
time experienced in terms of the past, present and future. As self-aware
embodied beings, we not only experience time as linear succession, but
we are also oriented to the succession of time in terms of what has been,
what is, and what will be. Ricoeur's concept of 'human time' is expressive
of a complex experience in which phenomenological time and
cosmological time are integrated. For example, we understand the full
meaning of 'yesterday' or 'today' by reference to their order in a succession
of dated time. To say "Today is my birthday" is to immediately invoke both
orders of time: a chronological date to which is anchored the
phenomenological concept of 'birthday'. Ricoeur describes this anchoring

17
A notion central to our small research which will be analysed further in the next and
final part dedicated to Ricoeur’s Time and Narrative.
11
as the "inscription" of phenomenological time on cosmological time (TN3,
p.109).

These two conceptions of time have traditionally been seen in opposition,

but Ricoeur argues that they share a relation of mutual presupposition. The
order of 'past-present-future' within phenomenological time presupposes
the succession characteristic of cosmological time. The past is always
before the present which is always after the past and before the future.
The order of succession is invariable, and this order is not part of the
concepts of past, present or future considered merely as existential
orientations. On the other hand, within cosmological time, the identification
of supposedly anonymous instants of time as 'before' or 'after' within the
succession borrows from the phenomenological orientation to past and
future. In this light Ricoeur sustains that narrative (narrated time) "is like a
bridge set over the breach speculation constantly opens between
phenomenological time and cosmological time" (TN3, p.244).

Human beings can be viewed from two perspectives: as the authors of

their actions in the practical world, and as part of, or passive to, cause and
effect in the natural world. Such is our inherently ambiguous and tensive
nature. It is this condition with which philosophy has to deal with in order to
answer the 'eternal' questions; and it is to this condition that Ricoeur offers
narrative as the appropriate framework.18 How can though narrative take
the form of a tool which can be applied repeatedly according to the specific
context in which time needs to be perceived and consequently expressed
(e.g. art -which is our case)? One of the options is offered through
semiotics and forms the next chapter of this thesis. Ricoeur himself
acknowledges the value of Narrative Semiotics, and especially those of A.
J. Greimas, towards this direction stating that: "…the importance of
Greima’s narrative grammar lies in its effort to put together, step by step,
the conditions of narrativity beginning from a logical model that is as simple
as possible and that initially includes no chronological aspect”.

18
As he so eloquently puts it: "Our working hypothesis thus amounts to taking narrative
as a guardian of time, insofar as there can be no thought of time without narrated
time"(TN3, p.241).
12
3. NARRATIVITY IN GREIMAS AND THE SEMIOTIC SQUARE

In this chapter I will principally consider the configuration and mechanisms

of the semiotic square which I believe can have an important function as a
compositional instrument when it comes to time representation (always in
the sense of time perception) in applied art. This structural tool is
generated through Greimas’ semiotic theory and forms the basis for the
reasoning on narrative surface contexts. Furthermore, as we shall see
below, it can prove to be far more than that extending its’ application to a
range of broader fields owing to its’ articulate character. In order to arrive
there however an introduction on the semiotics of Greimas regarding
narrativity is at hand, which will merely provide the basis for the better
understanding of the semiotic square.

13
OVERVIEW OF NARRATIVE SEMIOTICS IN GREIMAS

Probably the most basic narrative syntagm is that of a linear temporal

model composed of three phases - equilibrium-disruption-equilibrium - a
sequence of events corresponding to the beginning, middle and end of a
story. In the systematic Aristotelian narrative form, causation and goals
transform a story (chronological events) into a plot: events at the beginning
cause those in the middle and subsequently events in the middle cause
those at the end. Of course, what constitutes an 'event' is itself a
construction: 'reality' cannot be reduced objectively to detached temporal
units; what counts as an 'event' is determined by the purposes of the
interpreter. Turning experience though into narratives seems to be an
essential feature of the human drive to make meaning. Human beings are
fundamentally story-tellers who experience themselves and their lives in
narrative terms. It is something that we carry deep within our genes and
we do naturally. In doing so though a necessity to understand the
generation and characteristics of these narrative structures was born.

Purely pragmatic research was started long ago and in a limited field by
Vladimir Propp19 (1928), and later on by Étienne Souriau (1950); further
came from French structuralists in the nineteen- sixties (Roland Barthes,
Tzvetan Todorov). The man who elaborated though a complete theory of
narrative structures and proposed a grammar of narrativity which could
generate any known narrative structure was Algirdas Julien Greimas20. As
a result of a 'semiotic reduction'21 of Propp's seven roles three types of
narrative syntagms are identified: syntagms performanciels - tasks and
struggles; syntagms contractuels - the establishment or breaking of
contracts; syntagms disjonctionnels - departures and arrivals. Furthermore
there are three basic binary oppositions that underlie all narrative themes,
19
Propp was probably the first to make a consistent study on Narrativity with his
acclaimed study: Morphology of the Folktale.
20
A theory which was proposed and modified through many years in his works:
Sémantique Structurale 1966, Du sens 1970, Les actants, les acteurs et les figures
1973, Entretien avec A J Greimas sur les structures élémentaires de la signification by
Frédéric Nef ,1976.
21
A process characterised as such by Fredric Jameson in the foreword of the book
which I have used as the base for my research on Greimas’ theories and which brings
together his most famous texts (On Meaning: Selected Writings in Semiotic Theory, The
University of Minnesota Press, translation by P. J. Perron & F. H. Collins, Minneapolis,
1987).
14
actions and character types ('actants'), namely: subject/object (Propp's
hero and sought-for-person), sender/receiver (Propp's dispatcher and
hero) and helper/opponent (conflation of Propp's helper and donor, plus
the villain and the false hero). The hero is both subject and receiver. The
subject is the one who seeks; the object is that which is sought. The
sender sends the object and the receiver is its destination. The helper
assists the action and the opponent blocks it. In other words according to
Greimas' model a narrative sequence employs two 'actants' whose
relationship must be either oppositional or its reverse; and on the surface
level this relationship will therefore generate fundamental actions of
disjunction and conjunction, separation and union etc. The dynamics
created by their interaction, involving the transfer on the surface of some
entity from one 'actant' to the other, constitutes the essence of the
narrative.

Through this 'semiotic reduction' of the narrative surface Greimas manages

to create a complex interaction of cognitive traits22 that constitute the
structure of his narrative grammar23. As we shall see shortly, of catalytic
importance for the organisation of meaning within given narrative contexts
is the 'semiotic square' which transpires as the unified element of the
procedures undertaken by Greimas.

THE SEMIOTIC SQUARE

The semiotic square24 is according to Greimas the elementary structure of

signification. It indicates the oppositional logic that is at the heart of both

22
"an intricate microscopic play of semes and sememes" as Jameson puts it (in Greimas
1987, p.xii).
23
Issues that Greimas illustrates in depth in his texts: "Elements of a Narrative
Grammar", first published in L’Homme 9 (1969), pp.71-92 and "Actants, Actors and
Figures" first published in Claude Chabrol and Jean-Claude Coquet, eds., Semiotique
narrative et textuelle, Larousse, Paris,1973.
24
Its’ origins lie in the Square of Opposition, a collection of logical relationships
traditionally embodied in a square diagram. This body of doctrine provided a foundation
for work in logic for over two millennia. It was first formalised by Apuleius of Madaura on
the basis of Aristotle's theory of opposition in the fourth century BC and then adopted by
scholars of philosophical logic as the 'logical square'. For most of this history, logicians
assumed that negative particular propositions ('Some S is not P') are vacuously true if
15
narrative progression and semantic, thematic, or symbolic content. Given a
particular concept one can use the semiotic square to unpack its semantic
content by specifying the fields of difference, opposition, and separation in
which it is embedded with respect to other concepts. It is a rather
interesting schema since it is capable to illustrate the full complexity of any
given semantic term (seme). Fredric Jameson notes that 'the entire
mechanism... is capable of generating at least ten conceivable positions
out of a rudimentary binary opposition' (in Greimas 1987, p.xiv). Whilst this
suggests that the possibilities for signification in a semiotic system are
richer than the either/or of binary logic, they are nevertheless subject to
'semiotic constraints' - 'deep structures' providing basic axes of
signification. Let’s see though how this schema works starting with its’
canonical form which is reproduced below:

The symbols s1, s2, ¬s1 and ¬s2 represent positions within the system
which may be occupied by concrete or abstract notions. The double-
headed arrows represent bilateral relationships. One can immediately
observe that the square is an enlargement on the older notion of binary
opposition: s1 versus s2 (in the language of philosophical logic a 'contrary'),
which occupies the upper corners of the Greimasian square. This

their subjects are empty. This validates the logical laws embodied in the diagram, and
preserves the doctrine against modern criticisms. Certain additional principles
('contraposition' and 'obversion') were sometimes adopted along with the Square, and
they genuinely yielded inconsistency.
16
enlargement comes in the form of two supplementary slots -which are not
accounted for in simple binary oppositions- (a 'contradictory' in
philosophical logic), positioned in the lower corners: ¬s2 and ¬s1. ¬s1
consists of more than simply s2. The horizontal relationships represent an
opposition between each of the left-hand terms (s1 and ¬s2) and its paired
right-hand term (¬s1 and s2). The terms at the top (s1, s2) represent
'presences', whilst their companion terms (¬s1 and ¬s2) represent
'absences'. The vertical relationships of 'implication' offer us an alternative
conceptual synthesis of s1 with ¬s2 and of s2 with ¬s1. Greimas refers to
the relationships between the four positions as: contrariety (s1/s2 and
¬s1/¬s2), implication (s1/¬s2 and s2/¬s1) and contradiction (s1/¬s1 and
s2/¬s2) (Greimas 1987, p.51).

Jameson also suggests that the analyst should begin by provisionally

listing all of the entities to be coordinated and that even apparently
marginal entities should be on this initial list. Furthermore there are some
crucial operative decisions: The first is the order of the terms in the primary
opposition. In that sense the square is not symmetrical but 'temporal' or
positional and the placement of the terms is not indifferent but actively
determinant in unexpected ways. The second, as he adds, is that "the four
primary terms need to be conceived polysemically, each one carrying
within it its own range of synonyms, and of the synonyms of its synonyms-
none of them exactly coterminous with each other, such that large areas of
relatively new or at least skewed conceptuality are thereby registered" (in
Greimas 1987, p.xv-xvi). The final point of attention lies in the negation of
the negation, that is, the fourth term which is of peculiar nature. As
Jameson suggests: "It is always the most critical position and the one that
remains open or empty for the longest time, for its identification completes
the process and in that sense constitutes the most creative act of the
construction" (ibid., p.xvi).

In Greimas’ theory of course any given seme entails its’ opposite or

contrary and it is on this account that the semiotic square is build upon.
Let’s have a look thus at an example provided by Greimas’ himself (based
on Levi-Strauss's discussion of 'life' versus 'death' in "The Structural Study
of Myth") where 'Life' (s1) is understood in relation to its contrary, 'death'
(s2). Rather than remain at this simple binary opposition (S), however,

17
Greimas points out that the opposition, 'life' and 'death', suggests a
contradictory pair (¬S), in this case 'not-life' (¬s1) and 'not-death' (¬s2). We
would therefore be left with the following semiotic square:

It must be stated here though that '¬s1 and ¬s2', which in this example are
taken up by 'not-death' and 'not-life', include within them far more than they
may initially be accounted for, as mentioned above; thus not-life includes
more than merely death and not-death more than life. Indeed, in a given
narrative, alternative terms will often suggest themselves for ¬s1 and ¬s2.
Such a semiotic square might in turn be tied to other dominant binary
oppositions in a narrative, including quite possibly 'life and death'. As
Greimas explains, "nothing permits us to assert that a semiotic
manifestation is dependent on only one system at a time. And so far as it is
dependent on several, its closure can be attributed to the interaction of the
different systems that produce it". In other words, one can construct a
series of semiotic squares that explore various levels of a narrative each
semiotic square related to the next.

18
At this point, having examined the mechanisms of the semiotic square, one
can discern the level of flexibility that is entailed within such a structure.
Being as it is a temporal tool by its birth (the fact alone that it was
perceived in order to resolve schematically narrative conditions is a strong
argument) it can be an ideal instrument towards the better understanding
of time perception. Furthermore it is a tool that could help the visualisation
of such concepts. As a matter of fact, Jameson also sustains (in Greimas,
p.xv) that the semiotic square can often be called on simply to map
thoughts and interpretations arrived at in other (seemingly less technical)
fashions. One can, in other words, very properly use this visual device to
map out and to articulate a set of relationships that is much more
confusing, and much less economical, to convey in expository prose. Thus
its’ function does not have to limit itself in 'text' analysis but could become
instead a helpful construction tool which aids in the process of creative
synthesis.

POSSIBLE APPLICATIONS OF THE SEMIOTIC SQUARE IN ART IN RELATION TO

TIME PERCEPTION

My initial thought was to apply some of the key elements from Ricoeur’s
suggestions on time directly to the semiotic square in the hope that certain
'coordinates' would become evident, which could in their turn be used as
guidelines when one is trying to depict time; a framework in a sense which
could provide a basis for artistic expression that deals with time perception.
The primary pair for the square in this case would have to be universal
(cosmological) time / lived (phenomenological) time. Their respective
oppositions would be in that case not universal time and not lived time. As
we have seen earlier on according to Ricoeur 'universal time' (s1) and
'lived time' (s2) constitute human time in the S axis. In other words our
contradiction works also synthetically forming the complete experience of
time. On the other hand 'not lived time' (¬s2) and 'not universal time' (¬s1)
form what would be the negation of 'human time' in the ¬S axis. This
negation though ('not human time') can only imply the complete absence of
time something which cannot be defined. Continuing the analysis we see

19
that 'not lived time' contains necessarily 'universal time' since it is the only
alternative (unless we consider other 'lived time(s)') and accordingly 'not
universal time' contains many 'lived time(s)'. Under this light we discover
that the schemas of s1+¬s1 and s2+¬s2 have the same result: 'human time'.
From this application we can deduct a very important point which is central
to time perception and fundamental when it comes to the construction of
art works. Time perception cannot be separated from human existence -
which in each turn is described through narrative. Human time is unique to
humans and even though it may differ in its’ perception from person to
person it can only be understood as thus. This is of course nothing new in
the world of philosophy but it is certainly not something that can be taken
for granted. For the world of art it forms, in my opinion, an important truth
that must be taken well under consideration when it comes to issues of
time.

Such philosophical experimentation with the semiotic square can bring us

however only up to this point as long as guidelines for artistic creation are
concerned. It maybe possible though that faced with a specific time-related
subject within an artwork the semiotic square proves to be of assistance in
a more concrete manner. In that case one would have to identify primarily
a pair of time related elements that form an oppositional logic within a
semantic, thematic, or symbolic content. Consequently with the use of the
square one could deduct the relational dynamics between them (in relation
with their contradictions) in order to identify key elements within the final
form of the artwork. This is of course subject to experimentation an
example of which I will attempt to illustrate further on in this paper utilising
a personal artwork, where several semiotic instruments have been taken
into consideration during the creative process. Before delving into that yet I
believe it is necessary to present some of the artistic research that has
already been carried out towards time perception and related subjects. The
next chapter is dedicated thus to these matters and forms the last step of
this thesis before the conclusive note.

20
4. RELATION TO ART AND CONTEMPORARY EXAMPLES

Time, as mentioned earlier in this paper, has always been important to

artistic expression in one way or another. Conscious artistic
experimentation regarding the notion of time and its’ perception though has
only started about a century ago. Evenmore with the development of new
media diverse approaches arose that expanded the field arriving to video
and interactive digital technology. The aim of this chapter is to look upon
some of the most significant research that was carried out on the subject of
time directly or indirectly. The case studies presented below illustrate two
of the most significant ones in this sense eventhough they were carried out
more than thirty years ago. The vast scene of video art is not examined
presently since it is my belief that such a subject would require a space of
its own and a rather different approach due to the specific nature of the
medium25. The focus is on artistic forms which provide a total, immersive in
a way, experience placing the human being in the centre of the work.
Based on such experiences and with the help of the medium of
photography as a narrative tool I provide finally a personal work example
explaining the process step by step.

25
A medium which has an innate affinity to time since it is a real time representation of a
'reality'. The subject regarding the temporal theory of film (video) would be really long
just by itself and as such does not form part of this research. In addition I am not of the
belief that video is the best medium to talk about time perception exactly due to its’
particular nature. Of course this is not absolute as it always depends on the context
which is placed in.
21
TIME PERCEPTION IN CONTEMPORARY ART

The element of time is omnipresent in contemporary art albeit under many

forms. It is as a matter of fact scarcely treated directly and takes numerous
dissimilar guises. Such an example is the exhibition that was held in
Centre Pompidou in the year 2000 (28 July - 23 October) entitled TIME! A
journey to the idea and representation of time. The exhibition, curated by
Daniel Soutif, was divided in many different categories (Time of the
languages, Calendars, Working Time, Memory, Real Time, Transports,
The future of Time etc) covering a vast area of time-related material and
featuring a very large number of artworks. As a result some important
works (as 4'33 by John Cage and Condensation Cube by Hans Haacke)
regarding the essence of time and time perception where not given the
proper attention and where lost among the 'crowd'. Still this exhibition
provides on of the most consistent recent efforts to present art’s active
involvement in the issue of time, eventhough I cannot say that I completely
agree with the methodology that was followed. Another almost parallel (15
October, 1999 – 9 January, 2000) exhibition on the subject was
undertaken by the museum of modern art of San Francisco with the title
Seeing Time. An exhibition of more than thirty installations selected from
the Pamela and Richard Kramlich Collection of Media Art. Seeing Time
rather than treating the notion of time directly, focuses on the perception
through the principle that vision is shaped by the time in which we live and
the idea that life today can no longer be distinguished from the influences
of photographic, mechanical, and technological devices of seeing. The
exhibition presents works from the last 40 years of the past century
including some important examples from artists such as Marcel
Broodthaers and Bruce Nauman.

One of the most interesting exhibitions however that took place in the year
2000 was that of the Guggenheim museum of New York26 entitled
Venice/Venezia. The exhibition presented a selection of works of
Californian Ambient Art from the Panza di Biumo collection. Eventhough it
may not sound associated to our subject on a first note, Ambient Art and in
particular some of the works presented in that exhibition have a lot to offer

26
Part of the exhibition was transferred on a second date at the end of the same year in
the Peggy Guggenheim museum of Venice, Italy.
22
towards time perception. As mentioned by the count Panza in the
introduction of the catalogue to the exhibition,27 one finds in the American
Ambient art of the mid '60s, mid '70s a renewed interest regarding our
origins and our very existence. The artists presented in the exhibition have
in common the wish to create spaces(work) that offer the purest truth, the
perception of ourselves. As we have seen, time perception has in its’
center the very perception of our being and it seems that only through it we
can attain the first. Principal characteristics of this artistic expression are
the use of light in relation to the manipulation of space.

Space and light are two elements closely linked to time perception.
Through the passing of time, space changes and thus its identity is
revealed allowing itself thus to be perceived for what it is. If it were not for
time space would have no significance, no points of reference and it would
be reduced to nothingness having not the chance to be real, to exist. Time
gives life to space as itself manifests its existence through space. Time, as
Aristotle used to say28, is closely linked to movement and movement exists
in one form or another in everything that surrounds us. In this sense it
would be enough to say that movement is a key element that should be
used in order to represent the existence of time as a concept. Movement in
it’s’ turn is revealed through light. The movement of the sun is the most
obvious example (the simple paradigm of a sun-dial is sufficient to make
as understand how this principal works). Everything that is being
illuminated naturally produces a shadow that is always in motion, since the
earth is moving with different speed around itself than around the sun. This
allows us to perceive the very essence of relative movement which in turn
permits us to perceive the passing of time in the form that we have grown
accustomed to consider. Artificial light on the other hand does not usually
have the same attributes but is all the same the reason we perceive space
in the absence of natural illumination; a perception which can be of course
altered depending on the characteristics of the artificial lighting source.

These issues form the basis for most of the artwork by the Californian
artists presented in the exhibition Venice/Venezia. It should also be noted

27
VENICE/VENEZIA California Art from the Panza collection at the Guggenheim
museum (Guggenheim Museum Publications, New York, 2000).
28
IV Book of Physics (Τα Φυσικά), 219a2.
23
that a strong common point of these artists is their ability to place the
spectator in the role of the 'actor', merging the spectator and the actual
work, achieving thus a strong perceptual awareness. One such example is
James Turrell with his Celestial Spaces. Turrell created a series of white,
almost clinical, rooms paying particular attention to eliminate unnecessary
shadows by curving the corners of the walls. In these rooms he
implemented openings (usually on the ceiling) from where one can
observe the sky. A frame was thus formed that focused the complete
attention, of the person entering the room, to the external world above and
the possible changes happening in the viewspace that he was offered with.
In this way Turrell succeeds in redirecting our attention to the natural world
that surrounds us eliminating unnecessary distractions. It is a trip back to
the origins achieved only through our own perception and the realization of
our existence in this world. When one enters alone in such a room he has
an almost mystic experience where time perception changes and can only
be conditioned by the movement of visible celestial bodies or in their
absence his own (body movement). Another case is that of the artist Maria
Nordamn who worked with both natural and artificial light experimenting on
the perceptual redefinition of empty spaces through the use of darkness
and light. In 1972 she constructed an environment, at the Pasadena
museum, in which upon entering "a person is surrounded by a space that
defines itself as a void. A place for one person; for 15-30 minutes; 1. the
whole room is painted matte black; 2. the larger section contains sound
insulation in the wall; 3. the floor of this section is covered with a black
industrial carpet; 4. light and sound enter through a skylight."29 The result
is an experience which is perceived due to the dichotomy between
complementary realities (darkness-light, natural-artificial). In her work is
important the moment of passage and time is ordered according to the
natural succession of events (a narration in a way). Another artist who
worked in a similar way taking the experience of the viewer inside space
even further was Bruce Nauman. A selection of his ideas and work related
to the theme of time perception will be discussed shortly, following the
examination of certain teachings and a particular experience by John Cage
which I believe are essential to the task at hand.

29
Maria Nordman, Pasadena, July-August, 1972, notes on drawing, Panza di Biumo
collection, Milan.
24
TWO CONTEMPORARY30 CASE STUDIES

▪ JOHN CAGE AND THE EXPERIENCE OF 'SILENCE'

John Milton Cage (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an

American experimental music composer, writer and visual artist. He is
generally regarded as one of the most important composers of his era,
especially in his raising questions about the definition of music (in
particular through silence). Cage is also known for having put the element
of chance along with Zen Buddhist beliefs into practice through his musical
composition. When asked at an interview what interests him more in music
Cage responded time31. Many of his compositions depend upon 'the
structure or the process of time' as he describes it. At the same time in
some of his latest works he tried to liberate his music from this
dependence of time (pieces like 0’00’’, Variations III and Variations IV).
Central to his research relating time and music has been the concept of
silence. It was this intense interest towards that notion that led him to a
noteworthy experience which is of particular interest to our case.

John Cage visited at the beginning of the '50s the anechoic chamber at
Harvard University in search of absolute silence. An anechoic chamber is a
room designed in such a way that the walls, ceiling and floor will absorb all
sounds made in the room, rather than bouncing them back as echoes, they
are also generally soundproofed. Cage entered the chamber expecting to
'hear' silence instead, as he wrote later,32 he heard two sounds, one high
and one low. He initially thought that there was something wrong with the
chamber but when he described them to the engineer in charge, the later
informed him that the high one was his nervous system in operation, the
low one his blood in circulation. Cage had gone to a place where he
expected there to be no sound, and yet sound was nevertheless

30
The two cases discussed here may not be exactly contemporary since they are both
more than thirty years old but I believe are imperative for the understanding and creation
of any contemporary art form that wishes to examine the subject of time perception.
31
John Cage, Lettera a uno sconosciuto, a cura di R. Kostelanetz (Edizioni Socrates,
Roma, 1996) p.116.
32
Ibid., pp.309-310.
25
discernible. The realisation as he saw it of the impossibility of silence led to
the composition of his most famous piece, 4’33’’.33

The lack of silence though is not only something connected to sound since
sound is simply wavelengths; in other words wave movement. As it has
been discussed, movement is tightly linked to time perception and it is
revealed through our sensorial capacities. We perceive movement inside
space through our five senses and in particular vision(light) and
hearing(sound). If we were to take Cage’s experience a bit further adding
more limitative parameters then we could have an interesting result that
could be described more or less like this:

33
The premiere of the three-movement 4’33’’ was given by David Tudor on August 29,
1952, at Woodstock, New York as part of a recital of contemporary piano music. The
audience saw him sit at the piano stool and lift the lid of the piano. Some time later,
without having played any notes, he closed the lid. A while after that, again having
played nothing, he lifted the lid. And after a further period of time, he closed the lid once
more and rose from the piano. The piece had passed without a note being played and
without Tudor having made any deliberate sound, although he timed the lengths on a
stopwatch while turning the pages of the score. The most famous version of the score is
the so-called Tacet edition(seen in the picture above), which features three movements
all on one page, each labelled tacet — the traditional musical term for when a musician
does not play for a movement. The score provides no time limits for any of the parts.
Neither the whole piece nor the duration of the first performance were decided using
chance operations. The piece can have any duration and thus any title, but is stuck with
the famous first performance duration and title (i.e. movement I: 33’’; movement II: 1’20’’;
movement III: 2’40’’). Cage himself refers to it as his 'silent piece' and writes; "I have
spent many pleasant hours in the woods conducting performances of my silent piece...
for an audience of myself, since they were much longer than the popular length which I
have published. At one performance... the second movement was extremely dramatic,
beginning with the sounds of a buck and a doe leaping up to within ten feet of my rocky
podium." (in John Cage: Silence: Lectures and Writings).

26
Let’s assume that the anechoic chamber apart from being soundproof is
also completely dark. Evenmore the person entering (only one person at a
time) is immobilised in a way that he cannot move, in other words a living
statue. The question to be asked in this case is whether the person inside
that chamber which has no points of reference whatsoever would be able
to perceive the passing and thus the existence of time. The answer is the
same to that of Cage’s search for silence. Even if we eliminate all external
sensorial human capacities there are still clues (nervous system, blood
flow-heartbeat) which indicate our own existence and through it the
existence of time. Of course such an experiment forms a direct, purely
physiological Aristotelian approach that leaves little room to narrative. It is
also true that it constitutes a rather hypothetical scenario, particularly
difficult in execution and probably more suitable to science than art. Having
said that, the conclusions drawn can form the basis for artworks which,
with the help of narrativity (and through poetic symbolism), can bridge the
gap between human experience and time perception.

▪ BRUCE NAUMAN AND THE HUMAN PRESENCE IN SPACE

Bruce Nauman was born in 1941 in Fort Wayne, Indiana and has been
recognized since the early '70s as one of the most innovative and
provocative American contemporary artists. Working in the diverse
mediums of sculpture, video, film, printmaking, performance, and
installation, Nauman concentrates less on the development of a
characteristic style and more on the way in which a process or activity can
transform or become a work of art. A text from one of his early neon works
proclaims: "The true artist helps the world by revealing mystic truths." Time
is such a mystic truth and most of Nauman’s works take strongly into
consideration time related issues and every so often confront the subject
directly. Such a case is the following hypothetical work which Nauman
described in an interview back in the '70’s34. The scenario is the following:
"A person enters and lives in a room for a long time –a period of years or a
lifetime. One wall of the room mirrors the room, but from the opposite side;

34
In "PheNAUMANology", Marcia Tucker, Artforum 9, no. 4, p. 43 (New York, December
1970).
27
that is, the image room has the same left-right orientation as the real room.
Standing facing the image, one sees oneself from the back in the image
room, standing facing the wall. There should be no progression of images;
that can be controlled by adjusting the kind of information the sensor would
use and the kind of mirror wall would put out. After a period of time, the
time in the mirror room begins to fall behind the real time –until after a
number of years, the person would no longer recognise his relationship to
his mirrored image (he would no longer relate to his mirrored image or a
delay of his own time)." In this case we are presented with a distortion of
lived(phenomenological) time that is not based on physical factors but
instead perception is altered through psychological factors. The person in
the room sees his image as a foreign body eventhough he knows it is his
own. With the passing of universal(chronological) time he separates his
own lived time to that of his image altering thus his perception of time as a
whole. All that though is hypothetical since this case presents only a
scenario which nonetheless underlines the construction of time perception
in relation to space. Among Nauman’s realised works the one closer to this
scenario, and thus in our field of interest- is probably the closed-circuit
installation "Live/Taped Video Corridor", a study from the Performance
Corridor work group, created between 1969 and 1970.
For that work Nauman set two monitors one above the other at the end of
a corridor almost ten meters long and only 50 cm wide. 35 The lower
monitor features a videotape of the corridor; the uppermost monitor shows
a closed-circuit tape recording of a camera at the entrance to the corridor,
positioned at a height of about three meters. On entering the corridor and
approaching the monitors, you quickly come under the area surveyed by
the camera. But the closer you get to the monitor, the further you are from
the camera, with the result that your image on the monitor becomes
increasingly smaller. Another cause of irritation: you see yourself from
behind. Moreover, the feeling of alienation induced by walking away from
yourself is heightened by your being enclosed in a narrow corridor. Here,
rational orientation and emotional insecurity clash with each other. A
person thus monitored suddenly slips into the role of someone monitoring
their own activities.

35
See image in the next page.
28
To start with, the installation on its’ own has a continuous temporality
which is presented through the two monitors which show the same image:
the empty corridor, both in the past and in the present. This seemingly
continuous temporality is interrupted by the entrance of the spectator
which becomes immediately integral part of the work. In that sense the
spectator is an actant-subject and the upper monitor depicting his image
from the back an actant of control, through which the temporal
transformation is achieved. In other words, while the spectator walks
towards the monitor he becomes the central part of the work seeing at the
same time a person moving away from him which is however non other
than himself filmed from the back in 'real' time. This establishes a short
circuit narrative where there are two inclusive points of view with the same
source (utterance) but different symbolic expressions (enunciation). The
act of walking towards the monitors represents in a sense the present
while the simultaneous projection of the same spectator walking away
stands for the past of the action
(evenmore if we consider the time
it takes the image to arrive at the
monitor). In its’ turn the lower
monitor represents the memory of
the space and stands for the past
image of the linear temporality of
the corridor. Time perception is
thus placed in question through
the very perception of the
individual (spectator) within
space. Certainly, when Nauman
created this work he had not only
in mind the temporal aspects but
it presents nonetheless a very
interesting case where time
perception is examined in both
cognitive and symbolical level.

29
5. PERSONAL WORK PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

The element of time has always been important in my work and in more
than one occasion I have tried to approach it from diverse angles. One of
my preferred techniques when working on a project is that of photography,
due to its immediacy and temporal attributes. A photograph is a special
view of the world distorted in a sense by the user but also by the medium
itself. Evenmore it is a reality that has a specific time which is defined
again through the user-apparatus. What it records is a duration which has
though the characteristics of an instant, depending of course on the
subject, the method applied etc. Unlike video which clearly narrates time,
since it reproduces a sequence of moments, photography is a fragment in
time representing a duration which depending on its length transforms
reality. In my case my interest lies within the revelation of time through
space. In other words through I am trying to reveal the presence of time
through isolated spaces which for me contain temporal references in
relation to the viewer.

I initiated my experimentation at the early stages of this work pondering on

the relations discussed above. These reflections took the form of a visual
brainstorming which served as the basis for the reasoning I followed. The
result was three panels, the first one of which is reproduced in the next
page. It became clear at this stage that in order to represent the existence
of time within physical space using a 2D medium as photography I would
have to creative a narrative that would be completed through the
involvement of the viewer. In other words create a spatial narrative inviting
the viewer to a short guided journey.

30
31
The next important element consisted of course in the context of the
images that would make part of the sequence. Notions such as
continuance, duration, passing were of key importance and they would
have to surface through the spaces-objects depicted. Semantically the
compositional elements would have to allude to key notions related to time
without though falling to the trap of mundane symbolism. My scope was to
use narrative in a non figurative way as much as possible. With the above
in mind I proceeded in my reflections identifying two possible solutions
within these parameters. I named them Closed and Open Visual Narrative
respectively.

CLOSED VISUAL NARRATIVE

The next panel illustrates two arbitrary examples of possible 'Closed Visual
Narrative' scenarios. This first solution is composed of two parts: The
chosen main subject and a series of views depicting other elements within
the main subject. The main subject has to be an image which contains by
itself direct allusion to the existence of time within a given space through
symbolism and possibly poetic allusion. On the other hand the individual
elements are images also of the same subject but concentrated on
particular details (most probably from different viewpoints) that reveal
further clues as to the temporal identity of the subject in whole. It should be
noted that these individual elements should also be able to stand on their
own as depictions of temporal allusion (for instance on the first example of
the panel there are images of mould traces, derelict machinery etc). The
complete work would be presented as a wall installation where the image
of the main subject follows the images of the individual elements (as seen
in the second example of the panel). In that way, a dynamic is created
where the individual elements form different points of enunciation which
construct through their connection a non-linear narrative (placement in
perspective). Inevitably the point of view in this case is 'exclusive',
conditioned by the subject of the images, leaving little or now room for
direct involvement to the viewer. Capitalising, this solution is, as stated by
its’ name, closed in itself presenting a narration which takes place on its
own without identifying itself with the person viewing it but without
constricting him at the same time to follow a linear succession.

32
33
OPEN VISUAL NARRATIVE

The third and last panel presents the solution of the 'Open Visual Narrative'
which seems in addition to best fit our particular case. To start with, in
contrast to the previous solution, we have here a number of images each
one of which depicts a different subject. As expected, the first prerequisite
is that each one of these images communicates on its own issues related
to time through allusion or direct symbolism. The next step is to establish a
connection between them in both contextual and formal level. It is
important to assure continuity since in this case we have a linear
succession. Differently to the images used in a 'Closed Visual Narrative'
the images here are open to the viewer having an inclusive point of view. A
path is thus created where the viewer becomes a fundamental part of the
artwork. In other words the viewer assumes the role of the actant-object
forming thus part of the narrative itself. On the other hand the point of view
is decided beforehand by the artist and maintains a uniform character
throughout the artwork. In the panel which can be seen in the next page an
extended hypothetical example is given which explores also other
possibilities within that system. The first is the break of the linearity at
certain stages implementing branching that could give the viewer limited
control as to the flow of the narration. This option though I feel diverges
from our original scope taking away the attention from the subject at hand.
A second possibility is the use of an element which ensures the continuity
between the images. In the example of the next panel certain parts of the
images where emphasised using the red colour36 in order to indicate the
key points of connection between the images. As we shall see shortly
though in the final work that derived from the above reflections this option
was not used either since it only adds an unnecessary graphic (figurative)
aspect to the work. Instead other factors emerging directly from the content
of the images where taken into consideration in order to ensure the
continuity between them.

36
It should be mentioned that all of the images are in black and white in order to
maintain the uniformity of the composition and enforce the formal element of continuity
maintaining a neutrality which assists the reading of the contextual spaces.
34
35
WORK PROPOSAL BASED ON OPEN VISUAL NARRATIVE

In order to give fruit to the labours of my small research I am presenting

the following work proposal which implements the issues discussed in the
previous chapters. As we have come to realise through Ricoeur’s
teachings and Greimas’ methodology time is understood by human beings
through narrative. Time perception in
its turn cannot be defined without
human beings since it is for us and
through us that it is attained, something
which art has identified and applied in
various cases as we saw in chapter 4.
In this case I will try to combine the two
concepts –that of narrative and
physical perception- in a sole
experience utilising photography and
space manipulation, while placing the
spectator actively inside the work.

To do that I will follow the methodology

suggested by the method of the Open
Visual Narrative utilising the nine
photographs which can be seen on the
right, in this page and the next. These
are going to be projected in nine
separate rooms which form a line one
after the other in the order of the
photographs. Each room should be
about three to four meters long and two
to three meters wide with a height of
about two meters. The important thing
is that the space is calculated in such
way that the far end wall is covered
exactly by the projection of the image
on it. The projector is mounted on the
ceiling which, along with the floor and

36
the rest of the walls -with the exclusion
of the screen wall where the image is
projected- is made of a reflective
material (like polished steel). The
screen wall of each room is divided
vertically in half forming a double door
which opens automatically sideways
(in the wall). The opening mechanism
is activated by a sensor placed about
fifty centimetres before the
door/screen. In that way a person
entering the room can continue on
through the installation once he is near
the projected image. Once past the
first door/screen the passage closes
behind him forming a reflective wall
which no longer opens. In that way the
spectator has to continue until he
reaches the last door/screen. That in
its turn opens as well like the rest only
to reveal behind it a reflective wall like
the rest of the room. In truth however,
since there are no other exits, this last
reflective wall is also divided in half like
the other door/screens and opens
automatically after a short period of
time (33 seconds). There is no lighting
inside the rooms but the light created
by the projector in combination with the
reflective walls should be more than
enough.

The title of the installation proposed is

Transition. With this title is intended an
important concept within time
perception, that is the moment of
passing; as Ricoeur also wrote "it is in

37
this very passing, in the transit, that both the multiplicity of the present and
its tearing apart are to be sought" (TN1, p.16). One of the roles of the
photos selected for this installation is to attempt a representation of exactly
that. The reasoning behind the installation proposed above is twofold. An
effort has been made to construct two semantic levels that complete each
other through the narrative experience.

The first is constructed on the symbolism embedded in the projected

photos which allude at temporal values and especially that of transition
noted before. At the same time due to the nature of the medium
(photography) the images represent chosen instants. Placed one after the
other they create a pathway upon which is based the second semantic
level. The continuation between them is created, apart from their context,
through formal aspects. Perspective is a very important one, which is
enhanced by the occasional promise of an opening (slightly open door, half
open window, a fissure etc.). Light is another, may it come from an artificial
or a natural source, strong or faint; it guides the eye within the image.
These elements render also the projected images strongly inclusive
inviting thus the spectator to get close and 'enter', becoming thus the
actant-object of the narrative framework set up by the images.

Under this light, the act of participation, is introduced the second semantic
level of the work. The installation is completed the moment a spectator
(one at a time) enters the first room and the door closes behind him
leaving him alone surrounded by reflective walls with the only light coming
from an image not very different than the space he is into. The empty
space depicted in the projected image merges with the room and
commences the experience of the spectator. The very act of traversing the
rooms becomes an acceptance of a certain instance in time that through
each individual person is transformed into a narrative experience and thus
his 'human' time. The obligatory linear movement (forward) in conjunction
with the uniformity of the images maintain the attention directed inwards
towards the spectator, a fact that is emphasised through his own visible
presence (reflective walls). This is a symbolic trip within time perception
through space but also a trip within the person living it. It is not by chance
that the last image depicts a blocked way (a platform that leads to the sea)
and when it opens another reflective surface takes its’ place underlining

38
exactly the essence of each human being in front of the notion of time: the
inevitable destiny of our existence within time revealed through space and
lastly through ourselves.

39
6. CONCLUSIVE THOUGHTS

Time is not a concept that can be defined easily and that much is probably
one of the very few certainties that exist. The approaches on the subject
have been and still are numerous. Philosophy for the larger part has
dominated the history of time while science seems the most plausible
regarding future answers. Still time remains at the same time something
very personal and as such it is as much open to individual interpretation as
it is closed to universal understanding.

40
An illustrious example of the diversity that time assumes in its perception is
that of a water drop on the verge of falling. As described very eloquently by
Michel Tournier37 the drop "clearly negates its fall" it is almost as if it is
trying "to invert the flow of time". The silence between one drop and
another may seem unending if one is concentrated on it creating a unique
feeling of suspension. Something similar happens at times when one
casually glances an analogical watch and sees the seconds’ indicator firm
and has to wait, for what seems a long while, until it moves to the next
second. This feeling of expectance that is created in such minor situations
reveals how much is time perception dependant on external input and their
relation to the perceptive subject. Furthermore time perception is altered
through our personal condition (physical, psychological etc.) which
constitutes in part what we have defined as 'lived (phenomenological)
time'. On the other hand we are aware of a time that we theorise has
started at the moment of the creation of our universe and will continue to
exist until that universe is annulled. That time has existed before we did
and will continue to do so after our death; this we have called 'universal
(cosmological) time'. Ricoeur describes the total experience of time, which
is the combination of the two, as 'human time' and sustains that the bridge
between them is narrative. Taking into account this assumption I have tried
to apply this element into artistic practice regarding time perception. In
order to do that though I had to find the right constructive tools and these
came from the Narrative Semiotics of Greimas.

Semiotics in general is a science that can prove to be very useful in art. As

it is well known it is used generally as a method of analysis of artworks, in
other words after the creation of a piece. I believe that semiotics in general
can also play a different role, a constructive role during the creative
process of an artwork. In our case in particular a certain part of semiotics
was taken under consideration due to its affinity to narrative (it should be
noted that the form of narrative that has interested as here was that of
'abstract narrative' a more open form in relation to the most popular
'figurative narrative'). The understanding of fundamental elements of
Narrative Semiotics such as actants-actors, enunciation, point of view and
the semiotic square can be essential when faced with the creation of an
artwork, especially when it is related to time. This knowledge in conjunction
37
Venerdi ou Les Limbes du Pacifique (Paris, Gallimard 'Folio', 1967), pp.92-95.
41
with certain case studies from the world of contemporary art have lead to
the proposal of an installation that has been formulated utilising many of
the concepts and methodologies discussed in this paper.

Time is a difficult subject to approach and art in general, eventhough it has

always been involved in its expression, has scarcely affronted it directly.
On the other hand it is true that due to its’ unique nature it cannot possibly
be taken on as a whole. It is only fair that artistic creation continues to
approach the subject from many different angles solving small matters
each time. Time perception in particular, which has been at the centre of
this small research, is an area where art can, and already has, contribute
since it remains one of the most eluding issues due to the many diverse
factors inserted in its’ equation. One thing is certain however and I have
tried to underline it in many different ways in this text: human existence
should play a focal role in this equation. When it comes to the creation of
artworks that face in one way or another time perception the direct
involvement of the spectator is necessary. At the same time even further
conceptual fragmentation is needed in order to grasp individual elements
which put together form the big picture. In this spirit the work proposed is
concentrated in a single element deriving from time perception: transition.
A transition lived in the forms of represented instants which the spectator is
called to traverse. Space can not be separated from time, that much is
clear; instead, as we have seen in the examples of the Californian artists, it
should be used to reveal it in its’ purest form.

Time may be an intangible concept and maybe one of the last great
mysteries that mankind will resolve in its’ completeness. Art’s role in the
subject may not be critical to human advancement but it can be
nonetheless of great individual importance. To face though such a difficult
issue art is in need of new tools and such tools can be found in the area of
semiotics and the theory of narrative. A narrative in the larger sense of the
word which is born from the continuous interaction of human beings with
their surrounding space; life itself in the process. Because in the end the
only thing that artistic creation is about, regardless the subject, is nothing
else but the human experience itself.

42
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

▪ Algirdas Julien Greimas, On Meaning: Selected Writings in Semiotic

Theory, The University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 1987

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2004

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▪ Aristotle. Fisiki Akroasis (Ta Fisika), Papadima Publications, Athens,

1972

▪ Aristotle, Peri Poiitikis, Academy of Athens, Athens, 2000

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43
▪ La Biennale di Venezia – XLV Esposizione Internazionale d’ Arte 1993 -
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▪ Robin Durie (ed.), Time & the Instant, essays in the physics and
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WEBSITES

▪ http://www.aber.ac.uk/media [14-6-2005]

▪ http://www.diacenter.org/exhibs_b/nauman [10-2-2006]

▪ http://www.guaraldi.it/fabbri [21-9-2005]

▪ http://www.philosophypages.com [12-6-2005]

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