A Morphology of Time

Bluemel, Phyllida (2024) A Morphology of Time. In: Illustration and Heritage: Sharing Histories to Draw Out Futures, 22nd – 23rd November, Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts London (UAL).

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Abstract / Summary

“No image can properly be made of it, yet because it has a relation to quantity, and we can say a greater or less space of time, it admits of a natural and easy
representation in our minds by the idea of measurable space, and particularly that of a LINE.” Joseph Priestley, writing on his rationale for representing time as line in 1770.

Illustration often requires us to represent time by analogy with space. This has been much discussed in relation to the panel in comics. Many of these analogies – such as the timeline (trusty stalwart of heritage exhibition interpretation) – are so familiar as to appear ‘natural’ or inevitable; their status as analogy forgotten. Yet, how we ‘spatialise’ time tells us something about how we ‘see’ history (Rosenburg, 2004) shaping ideas of progress, continuity, scale, responsibility and ‘response-ability’ (Haraway, 2016). This poster presents steps towards a ‘morphology’ of time – the comparative study of time’s visual shape and structure across a range of contexts – contributing a tool for approaching these representations critically.
If no image can “properly” made of time, what can be learnt from conflicting attempts? How might representing time in non-linear forms, for example, contribute to knowledge production through drawing, particularly in a heritage context?

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