Form

We’re evaluating “time-based” works, artworks play over time. It helps to notice how a work is structured over time. Do some ideas come back multiple times? If so, do they change? Is the piece one long transition from one state to another? Is it one long “now” without time moving? Is it a cycle we watch over and over, noticing different things each time?

Notice any repetition or variation of images or sounds.

Here is a familiar sonata by Mozart and some time points to listen to, in order to discover its form.

  • First, skip to these time points to hear the main themes and how they’re varied:
    • 0:07 Theme I
    • 0:31 Theme II
    • 1:00 the first half of the piece repeats
    • 2:18 Theme I returns, but it’s changed a bit (at 2:35)
    • 2:51 Theme II returns, but it’s higher and changed a bit
  • Now listen to the middle section at 1:53, often called a development section, because it’s where things change the most. Listen for motives (recognizable shapes) from earlier in the piece coming back and changing slightly to move the piece forward.

Consider from moment to moment whether it seems stable (would this be a satisfying place to stop?) or if it is changing toward some goal. Many works will have a stable moment to introduce important ideas, then start changing and eventually land in new stable moments.

Play the same video (above) from the beginning and note how the areas marked Theme I and Theme II are stable, tuneful moments, happy to stay where they are. Notice how they seamlessly lead into turbulent, less stable sections before landing in the next stable moment. Watch how the hands stay still or wander in stable and unstable moments.

Now let’s consider how form can be built over time in visuals. This work is divided into three sections. In the first, the images are fluid streams of individual points, the second section uses line segments, and the third section uses two-dimensional solid planes, warped and moving in three-dimensional space. Play a bit of each section and listen how the sound mirrors this progression over time. Next, you could look closer to see how the work is organized over time within each section. Does it stay the same within each section? Does in change in just one direction?