For All Time: Interpretations of the Fourth Dimension from the Collection

Although most would agree that time is a concept by which we simultaneously grasp the past by memory, the present by attention, and the future by expectation, thoughts about this notion are varied and multifaceted. For example, some see time as an absolute quantity that flows on its own in a sequence whose motion in the physical world is measured numerically. An opposing view holds that time is not an entity that “flows,” but is instead a concept in which time and space are relational. 

Time is also conceived as possessing significant social importance: for example, it can denote economic value (“time is money”), express pleasure or thanks (“having the time of one’s life,” “a lovely time”), suggest degrees of velocity (“time is of the essence,” “in no time,” “in due time”), or symbolize human mortality (tempus fugit/memento mori), among other possibilities. The artworks included in this exhibition express a variety of ways artists have explored this multifarious concept, be it metaphorically, ironically, sequentially, or kinetically.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website