‘The Refusal of Time’ was born from a conversation with historian of science Peter Galison. The discussion explored Kentridge’s interest in time and science. Kentridge and Galison found that theories such as Einsteins theory of relativity, sparked ideas and imagery that could be solidified into drawings and physical mark-making, thus instigating the animated drawings. The industrial revolution and the origin of time zones were also interests for both Kentridge and Galison. In the book Thick Time, Kentridge is introduced as a man “roaming through history drawn by the great ideological and aesthetic experiments of the 20th century” (Blazwick & Breitwieser & Tøjner & Balshaw, 2016). The aesthetics of early industry and science feature continuously in Kentridge’s work. Machinery, metronomes, clocks, typewriters, megaphones all appear in the piece either physically or on film.
William Kentridge lives and works in Johannesburg South Africa. His work draws direct inspiration from the city, “it is the muse” (Kentridge, 2016). Moreover, having grown up in a politically active family, his father worked as a prominent lawyer on Nelson Mandelas trial, Steve Bikos death case and the Sharpeville Massacre of 1960; it’s impossible to separate his work from South Africa’s turbulent political history with Apartheid. On first impression, I experienced the piece as if it were a clock, a giant mechanical set of wooden lungs breathing life onto the screen, churning out scenes of scientific experiments, drawings and presenting a semi-abstract narrative that progresses rhythmically forward. This wooden machine was named the elephant after a machine from the Charles Dickens Novel: Hard Times in which it is described as moving “monotonously up and down, like the head of an elephant in a state of melancholy madness,” (Dickens, 1854). Initially, the film was full of energy, the ending however steered my focus towards a story of oppression and hardship. The mood changes from spirited celebration to a more somber atmosphere. Suddenly new characters are introduced, they bring with them objects symbolic of wealth, time and industry and the line of silhouettes is shown trudging across the landscape. These new characters, along with their commodities climb on the backs of others and the procession slows to a sluggish march. This transition seems to parallel the history of apartheid in the colonialism of South Africa.
During this segment, Kentridge reduces characters to silhouettes, the figures resemble his expressive charcoal drawings. The choice to use a monochrome colour scheme connects the aesthetics of the film to Kentridge’s interest in the 1940s and the industrial revolution. In this scene it is particularly distinct and instill
