"In and Out of Time" is the 16th Annual Art History
Symposium of Sacramento State University’s 2019 Festival of the Arts that is
put on by the Art department each year. This year’s theme was time and history,
and was based on how history is recorded in linear and non-linear methods. The
symposium hosted a number of art historians who each gave presentations on their
area of research and explained how those
areas represent and record time. The presenters were Prita Meier, Ph.D., Sascha
Crasnow, Ph.D., Ellen Larson, Ph.D. Fellow, and Maggie Wu, M.A. Candidate; each
primarily from the East coast.
The purpose of the symposium event is to explore and share
research among people in the field of art history and what new developments have
been learned and discovered, and to discuss how it relates to the field art and
otherwise. During this event the historians spoke of temporal elements and how
different cultures and societies record information and what people’s opinions
of this information sometimes means. I arrived late and missed most of Prita Meier’s
lecture, but during the intermission classmates tried to catch me up on how much
of time is recorded in what is considered a European format and how globally that
may be a problem. In some cases, the European style, is recorded in a linear
method, but sometimes it is recorded in a non-linear cycle or bubble, as I
understand. While the concept can be a bit abstract it is important to how
history is arranged and often retold.
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| Prita Meier speaking at the Sac State Art History Symposium 2019 |
One perspective of this telling and recording of history is
the that of Palestinian people during the intifada or uprising that has been a
major part of their history. Through her research Sascha Crasnow spoke of Palestinians
and how they’ve recorded their lives and experiences in during the “Nakba” and
waiting for peach and a return to normal in a place that has been considered
land lost. During the Nakba the
Palestinians were perceived as people frozen in time, thus; their recording of
time has been non-linear as they have been in what is described as waiting or
suspension. A symbol of such waiting is a cactus or “Sabra” as depicted in the
art of Asim Abu Shakra. Also a recurring theme is of a pinwheel as it revolves
but is only an illusion of progress, ultimately going nowhere.
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| Art and symbolism of the Palestinian Nakba |
In similar narratives Ellen Larson and Maggie Wu spoke of
Asian art forms and methods for recording. Larson detailed factory workers of
China as depicted in a film by artist Cao Fei. The workers were set on striving
for a utopian-like ideal (with the aid of technology), only to later become
nostalgic about the way things used to be in the past. Interestingly, like bay
area artist Cate White, Larson also spoke of a type of slippage in regards to
society and ideals to be obtained. In her speech Wu detailed the history and
teachings of cave art and the Silk Road in Asia, Buddhism, themes of linearity versus
abstract time, and the significance of how ancient art was at times confusing
and nonsensical in its abstraction. Wu also explained the use of time as a
measure and plan for attaining goals, and also discussed how nostalgia and
longing are a feeling of wanting something that is out of reach in what is
considered the past. I felt this portrayal of nostalgia is important as it is typically
seen as a romantic perspective, but to place it in the context of a race or surge
in thought provoking, though I often have these thoughts and reminisce about how
things used to be, and how economics and technology have caused things to change
so much. I find myself reminiscing about an ideal that was far from ideal.
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| Propaganda Art Billboard |
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| Ellen Larson speaking at Sac State Art History Symposium 2019 |
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| Maggie Wu speaking at Sac State Art History Symposium 2019 |
I'm glad to have this review of the symposium, Tyrand, and your great pictures.
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