The past in the present: Understanding David Claerbout’s temporal aesthetics

Abstract

David Claerbout’s recent video and photographic works generate a distinct temporal aesthetic. In particular, these works experiment with time by situating the historical past not as a discrete moment in time, but rather as an actively engaged part of the present moment. Through the use of digital technologies Claerbout re-presents, experiments with, and opens up time as non-linear and complex, in effect producing a new experience of temporality through a mediation of the past. Using Gilles Deleuze’s concepts of time, informed by Michel Serres’ and Roland Barthes’ work on photography, I explore a theory of time through these artworks in which the past is understood as transpiring within the present, attempting to understand Deleuze’s temporal concepts aesthetically, not just philosophically.

Keywords

David Claerbout Gilles Deleuze technology and art temporal aesthetics

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