THE SPACE OF TIME

Time is the most mysterious dimension of the physical reality and human consciousness. Space and time, as well as the space–time continuum, have been central issues in theories of art and architecture since the early years of the last century. Every truly moving experience of art – ancient, modern, or contemporary – seems to suspend time and open the curtains of experience onto a calm, tranquil duration. Regardless of its ephemeral and mystical nature, time is the crucial fluid of our mental lives. Water is also a frequent image in various art forms. Images of water turn into instruments of concretizing the passing and persistence of time. The two ideas that have given rise to fundamental misconceptions about the essence of artistic phenomena are: art understood as a symbol, and art seen as novelty. Architecture, also, creates its own altered reality, in which perceptions and experiences of space, duration, and gravity are transformed.