VISUAL INQUIRY PROJECT

KERI SMITH BOOK

LAURA HULSEBERG
ARTE 342

EXPLORATION #37 TIME OBSERVATION

What are you investigating?
I am investigating how we SEE the passage of time, and how we KNOW the passage of time. Visually, are seeing
and knowing the passage of time as two different entities? Can they be separate? Can they be simultaneous?

I also wanted to see how I perceived (or if I perceived) a difference between a subtle signifier and a clear signifier.

Why do you want to investigate this problem?

At first, I was very interested in the simple ways with which I can notice time has passed.
In my life, at this current moment, time is passing faster than it ever has before. With school work and freelance
work, I can be sitting at a desk and/or computers for hours on end. In the course of this experiment,
the simplicity of the investigation has been very profound.
I was also interested in visually recreating the passage of time through simple and complex images.
The experience felt engaging and gratifying, and it produced an additional challenge that I began to carry with me
every day.

EXPLORATION #37 TIME OBSERVATION

What is the procedure of your investigation?
The procedure of my investigation was to take photographs of anything that made me notice the passage
of time.
I photographed things in my life that had time written on them.
I photograph things and places that represented the passage of long periods of time.
I made a series of photographs to document the passage of time in one location.
I paid attention to objects in my life as signifiers which indicated that time had passed - even if I was not physically
present at the beginning of the time frame that the object signified and/or documented.

Describe the time and conditions under which you completed your investigation.
My investigation began mid-term and has been ongoing up to this point.
I documented two locations continuously, over many days and times of day.

I documented individual objects as I saw them and found them during my daily life.

These were my first

notes off the top of my
head about how I could
notice the passing of
time from where I sat
in my study space.
(images to follow)

THE MARKINGS OF THE PASSAGE OF TIME

IN MY STUDY SPACE.

I began this entire Keri Smith investigation while typing a paper for my multicultural course
(LTIC 501). I sat composing and typing at my dining room table for a full weekend. As I took a
break to attempt this particular activity #37, I found that there were numerous ways in which
anyone could walk into my study space and guess how much time had passed.
One could guess how much time had passed by counting the amount of tea mugs on the table.
One could guess the passage of time by how many items had piled up on the table.
Personally, I could determine the passage of time by the rise and setting of the sun, or by how
many times I used the bathroom. Additionally, I could sense the passage of time by how many
times my neighbors blue van came and went through the window.

The
PASSAGE
OF TIME
IN MY
STUDY
SPACE.

The visuals
of the
passage of
time in my
study space
at home.

For this
exploration,
I took
photos of
my study
space over a
period of
many days
and times.
It is a bit like
an Eye Spy
game as you
look for the
blue van,
garbage can,
a mug,
shifting paint
containers,
nighttime
and daylight.

The
WEST
SIDE
CAMPUS
STREAM.

The
changes in
the days on
my walk to
ARTE 342
at NIU.

The
WEDNESDAY
TIME SCHEDULE.

This schedule hangs on

the kitchen wall.
It documents the time
that is going to pass,
and how exactly the
time will pass.

The ART BUILDING

PARKING METER.

My parking meter outside

the Jack Arends Art Building
at NIU. I think that I
needed more than just an
hour but it bought me a
little time.
How surprising to find a
spider INSIDE the meter.
In our family, spiders are
signifiers of the afterlife.

FOOD.

Particular foods that I make need the passage of time for their fermentation processes to occur.
For me, one image can indicate the cooking process and the days/weeks that passed to create these foods.

Oh, look!
I even got
the time
of 1:48pm
in the
photo!

Homemade
Kombucha.

Homemade
Sauerkraut.

FOOD.

Homemade Bone Broth.

I documented the transition from raw ingredients to thoroughly simmered bone broth.
00:00

24:00

ANALYSIS
What conclusions do you draw from these findings?
Time can be very beautifully documented in such a personally meaningful way.

If all we have is time, then the cataloging of it becomes even more meaningful.
Everything exists as a stamp of time. All things, beings, words and experiences are a manifestation of
time.

Were there surprises? Yes, the whole experience. I started with the literal interpretation of
time passing and then I realized that with perspective, anything can be representative of time.

Did you find patterns?

Yes, the passage of time coincided with the wearing of things. Even if in the present state an object
was new, I kept imagining the wearing on of the object into decomposition or on into infinity
what next would happen, what next would be done?

CONCLUSION / FUTURE ACTION

Where there any metaphoric associations or insights into which you might
conduct further visual research?
Time Slips Away; Time is Beauty; Time is reflected in all beings, things and places

Recommendations for improving the process so that the findings might be more
interesting:
Rather than using visual clues for marking the passage of time, use cognitive clues (i.e. thoughts,
decisions, opinions).

Aside from photographing and collecting things, I would move on to creating new artworks. For
thoughts, a mind map would be so personally satisfying to create. It may not be easily
understandable to other people, but would be incredibly helpful to students in order to track a
thought process from beginning to end, or at least in and out of the activities of the day.