The refusal of time

The installation-performance entitled The Refusal of Time by South African artist William Kentridge was created out of his encounter with composer Philip Miller and through a series of exchanges with science historian Peter Galison. The Refusal of Time combines music, readings, dance, chants, videos, drawings and performance and brings Kentridge’s questioning of the notion of time to the stage. Echoing this theatrical performance that is constantly evolving, the book is a mise en abyme: it presents highlights from the show, drawings that were especially produced by the artist for the book, many sketches and study notebooks, all of the texts read during the performance, as well as interviews with Peter Galison and images from the workshop. A scrapbook of The Refusal of Time, this artist’s book can be seen as a work in progress, immersing the reader in the heart of William Kentridge’s creative process.