An investigation of the relationships between chronophotography, contemporary art practice and philosophy
Lead Research Organisation:
London Metropolitan University
Department Name: Computing
Abstract
Contexts
The research exists within a number of related contexts. The first context is the understanding of duration, simultaneity, continuity and the instant. This cluster of temporal issues has been at the heart of scientific, cultural and philosophical enquiry since Aristotle and Zeno. At the beginning of the twentieth century Einstein and Bergson refocused attention on time and its derivatives. This interest in understanding time has increased once again in response to the questions posed by Quantum mechanics.
The second context is the issue of dimensionality. This is an idea that is exemplified in Plato's Allegory of the Cave, in Abbott's 'Flatland', in Bohm's 'Wholeness and the Implicate Order' and in Superstring theory. There is one idea that is included in all these diverse and far/ranging theories, that is relevant to the proposed research. What appears to be a number of independent and related events (when viewed in n dimensions) might actually be one event when viewed at a higher number of dimensions.
Chronophotography was developed, at the end of the nineteenth century by Marey, Demeny and later Gilbreth and used as a tool for investigating movement and mechanical efficiency. At the beginning of the twentieth century chronophotography's potential as a research tool was ignored as aspects of chronophotography were developed into cinema. Now, in what many call the post/cinematic era, artists and researchers are beginning to return to chronophotography to continue some of its unfinished stories.
Aims and objectives
I aim to use chronophotography, in a new way, as a research method for answering two questions.
Can chronophotography be used as a research method for investigating and understanding the relations between duration, simultaneity, continuity and the instant?
Can chronophotography be used as a research method for investigating and understanding the relationship between a number of two/dimensional views of a scene and our understanding of the same scene when viewed in three dimensions?
Benefits
There are at least three potential benefits of this research. In addition to demonstrating that chronophotography is a useful, relevant and valid contemporary research method, the research will produce excellent, beautiful and thought/provoking art work and could increase our knowledge and understanding of time and of dimensionality.
The research exists within a number of related contexts. The first context is the understanding of duration, simultaneity, continuity and the instant. This cluster of temporal issues has been at the heart of scientific, cultural and philosophical enquiry since Aristotle and Zeno. At the beginning of the twentieth century Einstein and Bergson refocused attention on time and its derivatives. This interest in understanding time has increased once again in response to the questions posed by Quantum mechanics.
The second context is the issue of dimensionality. This is an idea that is exemplified in Plato's Allegory of the Cave, in Abbott's 'Flatland', in Bohm's 'Wholeness and the Implicate Order' and in Superstring theory. There is one idea that is included in all these diverse and far/ranging theories, that is relevant to the proposed research. What appears to be a number of independent and related events (when viewed in n dimensions) might actually be one event when viewed at a higher number of dimensions.
Chronophotography was developed, at the end of the nineteenth century by Marey, Demeny and later Gilbreth and used as a tool for investigating movement and mechanical efficiency. At the beginning of the twentieth century chronophotography's potential as a research tool was ignored as aspects of chronophotography were developed into cinema. Now, in what many call the post/cinematic era, artists and researchers are beginning to return to chronophotography to continue some of its unfinished stories.
Aims and objectives
I aim to use chronophotography, in a new way, as a research method for answering two questions.
Can chronophotography be used as a research method for investigating and understanding the relations between duration, simultaneity, continuity and the instant?
Can chronophotography be used as a research method for investigating and understanding the relationship between a number of two/dimensional views of a scene and our understanding of the same scene when viewed in three dimensions?
Benefits
There are at least three potential benefits of this research. In addition to demonstrating that chronophotography is a useful, relevant and valid contemporary research method, the research will produce excellent, beautiful and thought/provoking art work and could increase our knowledge and understanding of time and of dimensionality.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Paul Angelo St George (Principal Investigator) |
