Mark Rentschler

From Renaissance perspective, to cubism, to the modern focus on the painting surface, Western art’s evolution was sparked by the advent of different ways to think about space. So, by analogy, might there be value in seeking different ways to think about time?

I investigate ways to work analytically with time in drawing, painting and sculpture. To make time visible, I overlap lines of acrylic paint or cut across wet paint with pencil or wood blocks, experimenting with two simple principles: younger-over-older and younger-cuts-older. I number each visible time interval leading to the final outcome.

Primers, Chronomorphologies

Dimensions listed as visible time intervals above wood (VTI) x height x width x depth (inches).

VTI may be classified as series (s), parallel (p), or false-parallel (f).

Primers, Chronomorphologies

Dimensions listed as visible time intervals above wood (VTI) x height x width x depth (inches). VTI may be classified as series (s), parallel (p), or false-parallel (f).

Caption, Primers

Primers. 2019. Acrylic, pencil, wood. 18 boards, total 124 minimum visible time intervals above wood (VTI) x 21 x 26 x 1.5. Relative time and motion history indicators evolve through time (red to yellow, green, blue).

Caption, Primer 1

Primer 1. 2019. Acrylic, wood. Total 15 VTI x 3.5 x 12 x 1. Overlapped paint lines (principle of younger-over-older). Center board 5 VTI (s): (1) wood to gesso, (2) to white, (3) to red line, (4) to yellow line, (5) to green line. Left, right boards 4, 6 VTI.

Caption, Primer 2

Primer 2. 2019. Acrylic, colored pencil, wood. Total 15 VTI x 3.5 x 12 x 1. Overlapped paint, pencil cross-cuts (principle of younger-cuts-older). Center board 5 VTI (s): (1) wood to gesso, (2) to white, (3) to red line, (4) to yellow pencil line, (5) to green line. Left, right boards 4, 6 VTI.

Caption, Primer 3

Primer 3. 2019. Acrylic, wood. Total 22 VTI x 3.5 x 26 x 1.5. Overlapped paint, cross-cuts by active yellow and blue blocks. Center board 7 VTI (6s, 1p): (1) block – wood to yellow, (2) board – wood to gesso, (3) to gray, (4) to wet white (5), to red line, (6), to yellow block crossing, (7) to green line. Left, right boards 6, 9 VTI (contact for details).

Caption, Primer 4

Primer 4. 2019. Acrylic, pencil, wood. Total 47 VTI x 3.5 x 26 x 1.5. Blocks inserted sequentially (each block active during insertion, then passive as new block is inserted behind it), small boards show time data. Center boards 14 VTI (9s, 5p): (1, 2) blocks – wood to gray, (3) small board – wood to gesso, (4) to white, (5) large board – wood to gesso (6), to gray, (7) to wet white, (8) to insertion of 1^st block, (9) to red line, (10) small board – red line to pencil, (11) to insertion of 2^nd block, (12) to sliding small board down 0.5,” (13) to yellow line, (14) to pencil. Left, right boards 9, 24 VTI (contact for details).

Caption, Primer 5

Primer 5. 2019. Acrylic, wood. Total 25 VTI x 7 x 26 x 1.5. Active yellow, blue blocks deflect gray passive block. Center board 8 VTI (6s, 2p): (1, 2) blocks, wood to gray & yellow, (3) board, wood to gesso, (4) to gray, (5) to wet white, (6) to emplacement of gray block, (7) to red line, (8) to yellow block crossing. Similarly, left, right boards 6, 11 VTI.

Caption, Chronomorphology 1, 2

Chronomorphology 1, 2: Simple Series, Simple Parallel. 2020. Total 30 VTI x 21 x 13 x 1. Acrylic, wood boards. LEFT – Chronomorphology 1. Green lines are simple 1x12-series: 15 VTI (all series): (1) wood to red, (2) to yellow, (3-14) to 12 overlapping green lines, (15) to blue. RIGHT – Chronomorphology 2. Green lines are simple 2x6-parallel: 15 VTI (9 series, 6 parallel). Fundamental characteristic of parallel sequences is that there is insufficient visual information to resolve time relations between the parallel sequences.

Caption, Chronomorphology 3

Chronomorphology 3: Cross-Hatch Series, Cross-Hatch Parallel. 2020. Total 29 VTI x 5.5 x 10 x 1. Acrylic, wood board. LEFT – Green lines are cross-hatch 1x12-series: 15 VTI (all series), green lines alternate 1 vert., 1 hor., 1 vert., 1 hor., etc.). RIGHT – Green lines are cross-hatch 3x4-parallel: 15 VTI (7 series, 8 parallel), green lines alternate 3 vert., 3 hor., 3 vert., 3 hor. Total VTI: One VTI is subtracted from total because both sequences are on same board and share initial wood-to-red time interval. So total is 15 + 15 – 1 = 29.