Central Galleries

Music and Soundscape Philip Miller
Video Editing Catherine Meyburgh
Dramaturg Peter Galison

William Kentridge’s five-channel video and sculptural installation The Refusal of Time (2012) is a meditation on the commingled histories of colonialism and industry across time and territory. Epitomising Kentridge’s intriguing multi-sensory practice, this new work, originally commissioned fordOCUMENTA (13), and acquired by the Art Gallery of WA in 2013, combines the magic of theatre, drawing and music with film, dance and animation.

The ever elusive nature of time is at the core of the work. Images swirl and envelop the viewer as large-scale projections progress around the room, keeping time to the metronymic rhythm of a central wooden kinetic sculpture.

The Refusal of Time is a collaborative work born out of Kentridge’s discussions with science historian Peter Galison on matters including the history of the control of world time, relativity and black holes. Video for the piece was constructed in collaboration with editor Catherine Meyburgh, while Philip Miller created a layered musical soundscape to accompany the visuals, responded to by Dada Masilo’s bold choreography.The resulting installation is an open-ended, immersive and experiential work that lyrically questions the nature of time and the politics associated with it.

Born in 1955 in Johannesburg, Kentridge draws on the history of art and the histories of the world as well as his own personal experiences of apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa, where he continues to live and work. One of the most compelling and acclaimed artists of our time, Kentridge has become recognised for his unique, diverse and prolific artistic practice which includes the production of animated films, sculptures, tapestries as well as opera and theatre works.

The Refusal of Time is an Australian premiere and major collaboration between the artist, PICA, the Art Gallery of Western Australia and Perth Festival, and is supported by Perth Festival Visual Arts program partner Wesfarmers Arts.