Introduction

Flow of Time is a concept originating from astrophysics. Its proponent, Kozyrev, a Russian astronomer believed in the existence of a special spatiotemporal energy field in the universe, where time loses its original constraints and becomes a form of flowing energy. This energy field, he theorized, could carry and transmit all information in the universe in the form of energy flow—an idea he tested repeatedly through experiments somewhere within the Arctic Circle. The reason for borrowing this ultimately unproven concept as the exhibition title stems first from consideration of the essential nature of the video medium itself: it is, in fact, the artist’s fabrication of a segment of time, with images continuously flowing within this fabricated temporal duration, releasing information and energy.

 

From the works of David Claerbout and Zhou Tao, one can concretely sense how the process of time‘s passage shapes the work and acts upon the viewer‘s consciousness. For instance, both Birdcage and The Rib of the Greater Bay Area employ similar linear progression techniques. Birdcage dramatically interrupts the tranquility of the flow of time with an explosion, expressing humanity‘s destructive recoil upon nature, while The Rib of the Greater Bay Area sustains linear progression throughout, akin to the gradual unfurling of an ancient Chinese handscroll, allowing the region's present and past to merge within.

 

In Claerbout‘s and Zhou‘s other works, one can observe clearly different and multiple forms of temporal passage. When implicit narrative frameworks do not aim to propel plot, the duration of images actually displays their inner streams of consciousness—creations that exemplify what Henri Bergson called the active construction of "psychological time". In the confetti piece, "time seems suspended, with confetti and extras moving so slowly as to be almost imperceptible"; in Aircraft (F.A.L.), coexisting yet non-merging temporal layers—an unrealized past, a lost present, and the sense of arrow-like future—acquire a quasi-Cubist gaze through the camera circling the fuselage. In The Worldly Cave, a vast amount of footage is reassembled in fragmented form to create an artificial temporal ruin, exposed upon the terrain yet implying a primitive cave-dwelling functionality. Speaking of Blue and Red, Zhou says, "I hope this piece has no beginning, no end"; speaking of Aircraft (F.A.L.), Claerbout says, "When we find ourselves in the simulation of time-keeping, we have no choice but to rewind and replay.” Both artists, through the internal rhythms of their camera work and compositional structures, as well as through looped playback formats, offer corresponding explorations of time’s cyclical and recurrent nature.

 

Claerbout‘s work derives more from the generation of virtual images, combined with resources from historical footage and live-action shots—the latter, as he puts it, endowing the image with "an almost earthly texture." Meanwhile, Zhou‘s work stems from extensive location shooting, along with highly speculative post-production editing and re-creation. Both employ highly individualized expression to think meticulously and profoundly about the relationships between body and technology, nature and social space, history and future. Their works do not seek excessive visual spectacle; when such moments exist, they often contain a certain irony and distancing effect. For instance, both Blue and Red and the confetti piece feature intensified light sources that govern the duality of revelry and authority, transforming the entire field into a stage where narrative is suspended. In terms of artistic ontology, both artists regard the history of painting or the history of images as an aesthetic frame of reference and a foundation for reflecting on visual inertia, emphasizing the release of multiple layers inherent in the image itself, avoiding the formation of a closed loop where meaning precedes the experience of disorientation and immersion.