简介：AnewjointacquisitionbytheMetandSFMOMA,WilliamKentridge'sfive-channelvideoinstallationTheRefusalofTime(2012)isathirty-minutemeditationontimeandspace,thecomplexlegaciesofcolonialismandindustry,andtheartist'sownintellectuallife.Kentridgewasbornin1955inJohannesburg,wherehestilllivesandworks.Afterdramaschool,Kentridgewasactiveintheaterandtelevisionproductioninthe1970sand1980s.Bythe1990s—coincidingwiththeabolishmentofapartheidinSouthAfrica—Kentridge'slivetheaterworkandthestop-motionanimatedfilmshedevelopedfromcharcoaldrawingsfoundanincreasinglyinternationalaudience. Kentridge'srecentinterestinthenatureoftimewasgivenfocusthroughtheworkofPeterGalison,aHarvard-basedhistorianofscience.Galisonstudieda1905paperonrelativityinwhichAlbertEinsteinhypothesizedthat,duetothedelayinsignalsrelayedviatelegraphwire,peripheralrailwaystationssynchronizedonacentralizedclockwereforeverfatedtooperatesecondsbehindschedule.Einstein'snascenttheoriesabouttherelativityoftimeconvergedwithFrenchmathematicianHenriPoincaré'sdevelopment,aspresidentoftheBureaudesLongitudes,ofglobaltimezonemapsatthedawnofthetwentiethcentury.Bothscientistsfacedtheradicalidea,inanewlyindustrializedandinterconnectedworld,thattimeisnotabsolutebutrelativeandresistanttocontrol. Atthecenteroftheinstallationisamovingsculpture—the"breathingmachine"or"elephant"—anorgan-likeautomatonwithapumpingbellows.Plansfromthe1870sforcopperpneumatictubesunderthestreetsofParisthatwouldpumpregularburstsofairtocalibratethecity'sclocksremindedKentridgeofapassagefromCharlesDickens'snovelHardTimes(1854).Dickensdescribesafactorymachinemoving"monotonouslyupanddown,liketheheadofanelephantinastateofmelancholymadness"—ametaphorfortheoftenconvulsivedevelopmentsinscienceandindustryduringthemoderneraandareminderofthevainimpulsetocontroltime.…