The Art of Duration

In The Art of Duration, we encounter a number of conceptualizations of time and duration from a range of disciplines: literature, philosophy, cultural studies, gender and sexuality studies, disability studies, and performance studies. Our goal is to investigate how these different concepts of time inform our understanding of the use of duration in different artistic practices. Together, we look at photography, film, video, performance art, installation, and sound art to better understand the art of duration both in theory and in practice. We also consider what the art of duration can teach us in relation to the body and power. Working between creative prompts, performance archives, and critical theory that can inform our understanding of the social, political, and cultural import of duration, we study time & materiality, early experiments in durational art, questions of visibility, and our own relationship to temporality and duration as praxis.

  • I. Time & Materiality

    What philosophies of time, indigenous knowledges, insurgent ecologies, and critical concepts offer insight to durational praxis?

    Image: Melati Suryodarmo, I’m a ghost in my own house (2012)

  • II. Now/Then

    How have artists developed and sustained durational practices over time? What heritages and bodies of knowledge inform our praxis?

    Image: Marilyn Arsem, Chornobyl (2022)

  • III. Attention

    Where are we politically, geographically, and culturally? Where does the art of duration leak beyond artistic frames?

    How does this affect our praxis? What is the meaning in our making?

    Image: GOODW.Y.N. Ghost of Myself and You (2022)

2026 Schedule

March 15 - May 3 | Thursdays 12pm - 2pm CEST (8 sessions); or Sundays 10am - 12pm EST

$750 For CBI Members*
$1250 Non-members

*payment plan available on enrollment page

Enrollment deadline: 15 of March 2026

The Art of Duration will meet on Zoom.

*Intro 1-1s scheduled the first week of March

Group Introduction Session Sunday March 15, 4pm-5pm CEST

Thursdays 12pm - 2pm CEST OR Sundays 10am - 12pm EST

March 19 or 22 - Time & Materiality
March 26 or 29 - Time & Materiality
April 2 or 5 - Now/Then
April 9 or 12- Now/Then
April 16 or 19 - Attention
April 23 or 26 - Attention

April 30 or May 3 - Culminating PRAXIS

There will be practical assignments and reading prior to each weekly session. 

*you qualify for member pricing if you participated in any 2024 or 2025 CBI course or residency

The Art of Duration with Dr. Raegan Truax includes interactive learning, creative prompts, group discussions, and unique access to durational artworks and documentation of performances. Outside of our shared time, you are given access to several texts and practical assignments to foster an embodied engagement with the philosophy, history, and critical theory. Beyond discussion, each participant can offer creative responses to our course material to generate embodied communications and feedback.

This course meets. on Zoom. Space is limited to 10 participants

ENROLL