Čas je sestavina vsakdanjega življenja, za katero se zdi, da skorajda nevidno pogojuje in uravnava posameznikov in družbeni univerzum. Kaj pomeni živeti v sodobnem času? Kako nas omejuje t. i. objektivni čas, kako subjektivni ali notranji čas in kako biološki? Kako občutenje časa vpliva na dojemanje lastnega sebstva, kako samo/de/konstruiramo svojo identiteto, svoj jaz in pogled na svet?

Tovrstna vprašanja zastavlja večmedijska instalacija Pretakanje časa (Time Transfusion) umetnice Line Rice. Večdelna site-specific instalacija, ki jo sestavljajo starejša, time-based dela in dela v nastajanju, ob vsakokratni postavitvi doživi transformacijo, s tem pa se spreminjajo tudi njeni pomeni. Umetnica z njimi prezentira simbolne in metaforične pomene časa, črpajoč navdih iz številnih referenc iz zgodovine upodabljajoče umetnosti, znanosti, antropologije in mitologije. S plastenjem vizualnih elementov, združevanjem analogno in digitalno ustvarjenih učinkov in preoblikovanjem orodij za merjenje časa strukturira ne/mogoče asociativne povezave vidnega in pomenskega. Poigrava se s koncepti trajanja, gibanja in smeri časa, kar razpira prostor za razmislek o sodobnem dojemanju in občutenju časa.

Boris Groys v eseju Comrades of Time[1] sodobnost opredeli kot prisotnost tukaj in zdaj, ki pa je vedno obremenjena s preteklo zgodovino in uspehom v prihodnosti. Sedanjost se v naši vsakdanji izkušnji manifestira kot ovira; sedanji čas je čas, v katerem znižamo pričakovanja z obeti v prihodnosti in/ali prekinemo s tradicijo, da sploh lahko preidemo na tukaj in zdaj. Sodobni redukcionizem na sedanjost lahko razumemo kot preživitveno strategijo. Sodobnost je namreč prežeta z dvomom, omahovanjem, negotovostjo in neodločnostjo – s potrebo po odloženi refleksiji. Lina Rica skozi svoja time-based dela nenehno preizprašuje lastno pozicijo v času in prostoru, imenovanem sodobnost. Išče mehanizme, kako preživeti v svetu in času, ki poleg eksaktnih merskih enot ne ponuja fiksnih pomenskih struktur, na katere bi se sodobni individuum lahko oprl pri konstrukciji smisla.

Digitalna ura v nekem trenutku namesto 00:00 kaže 88:88 (obrnjen znak za neskončnost) in je na prvi pogled videti kot napaka, sistemska okvara, ki kaže neracionalen, ne/verjeten čas. Lahko pa označuje tudi presežek časa (excessive time), ki si ga lahko razlagamo na različne načine: kot nični čas, čas nič ali ničti čas. Nični čas ne označuje in ne pomeni ničesar; čas nič je čas, ki zgolj je, brez da bi se mu pripisovalo ekonomsko, politično ali kakšno drugo vrednost (neskončni kontinuum); ničti čas pa nosi konotacijo časa, v katerem je vse mogoče, in kot gumb za reset obljublja nov začetek.

Na podoben način relativnost izmerljivega časa naslavlja performativna akcija Iz morja v morje, v kateri umetnica z repetativno gesto pretaka tri decilitre vode iz enega morja v drugo (vodo Jadranskega morja v vodo Severnega morja, vodo Severnega morja v vodo Atlantskega oceana in vodo slednjega v vodo Jadranskega morja). Akcijo lahko razumemo kot ponazoritev koncepta cikličnega časa in kot metaforo za minevanja sodobnega časa. Cikličnost, kjer časa potencialno nikoli ne zmanjka, se zdi absurdna, če jo sopostavimo linearnemu dojemanju časa, kot ga poznamo na Zahodu, kjer časa nenehno primanjkuje, neizkoriščen čas pa je nepovratno izgubljen.

Svetlobna tabla, ki spominja na označevalne napise drugorazrednih motelov z ritmičnim utripanjem besed NOW – HERE – NOWHERE, naznanja distopično dobrodošlico na nedoločen kraj. Kraj, na katerem je imperativ uživanja življenja (carpe diem) tukaj in zdaj prav lahko tudi nikjer, če ste zašli v slepo ulico ali vaše življenje ne poteka po zastavljenih željah in pričakovanjih. Na delu je druge vrste cikličnost in ničnost – ujetost v krog, iz katerega ne moremo izstopiti, saj biti prisoten tukaj in zdaj pomeni tudi dvomiti in biti pasiven, kar pa onemogoča akcijo.

Morda se zdi, da je sodobna produktivno naravnana družba s svojim globalnim raztezanjem in ustvarjanjem virtualnih svetov izpopolnila obvladovanja človeškega delovanja z merilnimi instrumenti, na čemer je zrasla moderna evropska civilizacija. V sodobni družbi je čas, ki ni u/porabljen produktivno, nepomemben in zapravljen. Vendar različne discipline čas razlagajo različno. V filozofiji tako ali drugače obremenjeni čas ne obstaja, saj je pojmovan kot neskončni kontinuum, brez začetka in konca. V tem smislu je tukaj in zdaj vedno, je vedno bil in vedno bo, medtem ko eksistencialna osmislitev ostaja breme posameznika, ki v določenem času živi na določenem prostoru.

[1] V What Is Contemporary Art? e-flux journal. Sternberg Press, 2010, str. 22–39.

Jasna Jernejšek: besedilo za samostojno razstavo Pretakanje Časa v SCCA, 2018

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Time is a component of everyday life that seems to almost invisibly condition and regulate individuals and the social universe. What does it mean to live in modern times? How does it limit us so called objective time, how subjective or internal time and how biological? How does the feeling of time affect the perception of our own self, how we construct our identity, our self and our view of the world?

Such questions are posed by the multimedia installation Time Transfusion by the artist Lina Rice. The multi-part site-specific installation, which consists of older, time-based works and works in the making, undergoes a transformation each time it is set up, and with that, its meanings also change. With them, the artist presents the symbolic and metaphorical meanings of time, drawing inspiration from numerous references from the history of visual arts, science, anthropology and mythology. By layering visual elements, combining analogue and digitally created effects and transforming time measurement tools, he structures the non/possible associative connections of the visible and the meaningful. It plays with the concepts of duration, movement and direction of time, which opens up space for thinking about the modern perception and feeling of time.

In the essay Comrades of Time[1], Boris Groys defines modernity as the presence of the here and now, which is always burdened by past history and future success. The present manifests itself as an obstacle in our everyday experience; the present tense is the time in which we lower our expectations with future prospects and/or break with tradition so that we can even move to the here and now. Modern reductionism to the present can be understood as a survival strategy. Modernity is imbued with doubt, hesitation, uncertainty and indecision – with the need for deferred reflection. Through her time-based works, Lina Rica constantly questions her own position in time and space called modernity. He is looking for mechanisms to survive in a world and time that, apart from exact units of measurement, does not offer fixed structures of meaning that the modern individual could rely on to construct meaning.

The digital clock at one point shows 88:88 (reversed infinity sign) instead of 00:00 and at first glance it looks like a bug, a system malfunction showing an irrational, non/plausible time. But it can also indicate excessive time, which can be interpreted in different ways: as zero time, zero time or zero time. Zero time does not indicate or mean anything; time zero is time that simply is, without any economic, political or any other value being attributed to it (infinite continuum); zero time, however, carries the connotation of a time in which anything is possible, and as a reset button it promises a new beginning.

In a similar way, the relativity of measurable time is addressed by the performative action Iz morja va morje, in which the artist, with a repetitive gesture, flows three deciliters of water from one sea to another (the water of the Adriatic Sea into the water of the North Sea, the water of the North Sea into the water of the Atlantic Ocean and the water of the latter into the water of the Adriatic Sea). The action can be understood as an illustration of the concept of cyclical time and as a metaphor for the passage of modern time. Cyclicality, where time potentially never runs out, seems absurd when juxtaposed with the linear perception of time as we know it in the West, where time is constantly in short supply, and unused time is irretrievably lost.

A light board reminiscent of second-rate motel signs with the rhythmic flashing of the words NOW – HERE – NOWHERE announces a dystopian welcome to an indeterminate place. A place where the imperative to enjoy life (carpe diem) is here and now, it can also be anywhere, if you have reached a dead end or your life is not going according to your wishes and expectations. There is another kind of cyclicality and nothingness at work – being trapped in a circle from which we cannot get out, because being present here and now also means doubting and being passive, which makes action impossible.

It may seem that the modern productive society, with its global expansion and the creation of virtual worlds, has perfected the control of human action with measuring instruments, on which modern European civilization has grown. In modern society, time that is not spent productively is irrelevant and wasted. However, different disciplines interpret time differently. In philosophy, one way or another burdened time does not exist, as it is conceived as an infinite continuum, without beginning and end. In this sense, here and now is always, has always been and always will be, while existential meaning remains the burden of an individual who lives in a certain place at a certain time.

[1] V What Is Contemporary Art? e-flux journal. Sternberg Press, 2010, str. 22–39.

Jasna Jernejšek: text for the solo show Time Transfusion in the Centre for Contemporary Arts, 2018