GALLERY 5
ANACHRONY
JENNIFER WHITTEN
Anachrony
noun
A discrepancy between the order of events in a story and the order in which they are presented in the plot. Flashback or flashforward.
The state or condition of being chronologically out of place.
Many rely on the security and simplicity of a time that flows equably forward; a Newtonian timeline of absolute cause and effect. ‘Anachrony’ considers the stance championed by theorists like Heidegger—namely that certain human behaviours indicate our ability to step outside of linear time. By the recollection of the past and anticipation of the future, and by the limitlessness of dreaming, we dispense with chronological order. We project the essence of ourselves (and others) onto immortal objects, such as jewellery or tombstones; we film and photograph and record and paint—to preserve specific moments in time, to ensure that those moments will have additional opportunities to occupy the present, rather than succumb to the singular opportunity afforded by Absolute Time.
