A suspension of time
What does it mean to suspend our mechanistic experience of time in a capitalist society? and why is it important to create spaces that resist the more commonly regarded, quantitative understanding of time?
Video and refection
'Time is invention and nothing else.' Henri BergsonI recently read the phrase 'suspension of social conventions' in relation to social / participatory art practices (Pablo Helguera). You know when you find some really pleasing language for the thing you've been thinking and talking about? It's very satisfying. The idea links nicely to research we're currently doing at Arts Education Exchange and I've been mulling this phase over in terms of my own sound practice, particularly in terms of time. What does it mean to suspend our mechanistic experience of time in a capitalist society? and why is it important to create spaces that resist the more commonly regarded, quantitative understanding of time? Henri Bergson, a French philosopher, proposed a concept of time that diverged from traditional, scientific thought. He came up with the idea of "duration" (la durée), which is the qualitative, continuous flow of time as experienced by consciousness, rather than segmented time measured by clocks and calendars.
Bergson said that conventional scientific time misrepresents the true nature of time. He proposed that time is a lived experience, a continuous and indivisible flow that cannot be adequately captured by spatial measurements. His concept of duration is fluid, dynamic and makes space for freedom and creativity.