Thinking Process - Final Project

Reflection on The Refusal of Time by William Kentridge

The Refusal of Time is an installation by William Kentridge, displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is a "meditation on time and space" based on the theme of colonialism and industry that lasts for half an hour. The installation in set in a dark room with projections on three sides of the wall, one panel on the central wall and two panels on each of the side walls. In the middle of the room is a functioning sculpture that seems to resemble an industrial machine (the "breathing machine"), and according to the description of this installation, the machine depicts the sudden industrial and scientific developments as well as the eager to control time. The projections are depictions of different scenes that take place at in a different time frame on different panels. Sometimes the videos moves through the panels and certain actions are repeated. The video projection is accompanied by music that is a mixture of multiple different sound clips including singing, trumpets, conversations, clock ticking, and etc. The overall sound and video a long with the lighting and decoration of the installation creates a mysterious atmosphere. Different forms of clock is also a reoccurring element in the installation which emphasizes Kentridge's portrayal of time.



Kentridge is influenced by the idea that time is not necessarily fixed in this industrialized society. As an audience, I do see his depiction of the nonlinear time frame but at the same time I am confused. The scenes projected mostly seem irrelevant to each other in my opinion and the entire installation is hard for me to understand. Without the appearance of the clocks throughout the video or knowing the title of this installation, it would be hard for me to understand Kentridge's intention on depicting the non-sequential time.