A notion of past present and future seems simple to understand. I exist at a present though my memories are of past, while my intentions are about possible future states of affairs. The self exists within modernity as a vague cultural object. The artworks presented ostensibly represent this process, as the fish moves into the future, leaving its past behind depicted on the other side of the plate. The present being the ridge joining the two sides.
“THE ARROW OF TIME”
UNKNOWN AUTHOR
An A theory or time and the B theory of time.
This relates simple to a couple of theories of time. The A theory simply places time as a past, present and future states, where as the B theory of time places a before and after as the only relevant states to explain time.
So what has this to do with creating a tangible artform. The methodology of a theory of time will have a profound impact on the sort of artform. The A theory of time is more in line with a humanist approach to nature whereas the B theory of time is akin to the scientific view of nature. The classic analogy is the rationalist figurative approach that resembles the neo classic refinement placing the human form at the centre of the universe followed by Romanticism that place the human within a turbulent natural world. The modernist phase really took all figurative elements apart leaving a before and after series of events that aligns with the B theory of time.