KAIROS
Who and from where is the sculptor?
— From Sicyon, and His name? —Lysippos
And who are you?
—I am kairos (the right time), the all-subduer
Why do you stand on tip-toe?
—I am always running
Why do you have wings on your feet?
—I fly with the wind
Why do you hold a razor in your right hand?
—As a sign to men that I am sharper than any sharp edge
And why is your hair over your face?
—For the one who meets me to grasp at, by Zeus!
And why is the back of your head bald?
—Because none whom I have once raced by on my winged feet will now, though he wished it sore, can take hold of me from behind....
(Poseidippos 142.12 A-B)
© SeungJung Kim and Dave Cortes 2012
The ancient Greek concept of time, kairos, is the lesser known counterpart to chronos, the latter being the normative concept of time that most of us are familiar with: the quantitative, uniform cosmic time that we relate to the tick-tocking clock, or in Plato's time, the cyclical motions of the heaven. Kairos, on the other hand, was a different kind of time, a qualitative concept that meant the "right" time, the opportune moment that needs to be seized upon. Sometimes translated as "Opportunity," kairos also became known as the youngest son of Zeus, some time in the mid 5th century BCE, and was represented as a winged youth, in one of the most sensational scuptures in ancient Greece, by the 4th century sculptor, Lysippos.
The famous Hellenistic epigram by Poseidippos, shown above, is an imaginary dialogue between a passerby and the Kairos sculpture himself. An amusing yet informative banter reveals that Kairos was a complicated piece of sculpture that harbored significant meaning behind his three-dimensional iconographic form. With the use of extant 2D visual records and literary sources, the now-lost statue of kairos was digitally recreated in his full three-dimensions, in collaboration with Dave Cortes of Cortes Studio. The resulting benefits of this 3D reconstruction of kairos was remarkable, as the phenomenological understanding of how the statue was to be "encountered" by the ancient viewer came about as a natural consequence of this work. So often artworks are studied with limited visual access or distorted views—with dire consequences.
Kairotopia is at once a celebration of the rediscovered concept of kairos as well as dedicated to the reconstruction and presentation of classical works of art.
It also serves as a compendium to traditional format academic publications:
SeungJung Kim, "Torward a Phenomenology of Time in Ancient Greek Art," in Lutz Doering and Jonathan Ben Dov eds., The Construction of Time in Antiquity. Cambridge University Press (forthcoming)
Professor SeungJung Kim specializes in Greek art and archaeology at the Dept. of Art at University of Toronto. Her previous training as an astrophysicist engendered a fascination with time, which she has brought to bear on her research in Greek art. Her ongoing research involves concepts of time and temporality in the visual culture of Archaic and Classical Greece—in sculpture, vase painting, and monumental painting—which she contextualizes to the larger cultural history, bridging philosophical, social, literary and scientific understandings in ancient Greece. Moreover, her interest in the phenomenology of visual perception has engaged her actively with film theory, and more broadly with philosophy of history and theory. She harbors an interest in new media as both objects of study and innovative tools for research and is constantly searching for distinct ways to bridge scientific research with art history. She has been active as an archaeologist in Sicily and has also written on cross-cultural currents seen in Gandharan Buddhist art. Her award winning teaching, in addition to Greek art and architecture, spans critical theories of space and their relationship to the arts, temporality and narrative in art, phenomenology and perception, and gender in ancient art.
About the Author
About the Artist
Born and raised in Brooklyn, sculptor Dave Cortes brings his diverse background into his creative works that range from collaborative studio work with the commercial animation industry to independent commissions in fine arts. Having started a career with McFarlane Toys as staff sculptor, Dave has been always on the forefront of technology while bringing his traditional sculpting background to inform his work. The rare tactile quality of his work, while digital or traditional, is a notable feature of his style. Dave now runs a successful studio based in Brooklyn that has seen an impressive client base, including Marvel, DC Comics and Disney. He continues to teach traditional and digital sculpture at the School of Visual Arts in New York. Dave's versatility as an artist is also shown in his interest in the collaborative intersection of academic research and new digital technology that begat the 3D Lysippan Kairos.