Ephemerality

Objects which are ephemeral, per one perspective, are those whose compositional material experience chemical or physical changes and are thus permanently altered; this process occurs in a matter of decades.[33] Furthermore, ephemerality can be perceived as defiance of value or duability.[34] Ephemerality can affect the entire spectrum of literature, from a "finely bound" Bible to a "hastily printed" handbill.[35] Due to often outlasting their expressed purpose, these objects can be perceived as temporal and ontological oddities; ephemerality has been described as constitutionally liminal – ephemerality "is a present intensified by the mannerism of time...caputur[ing] time in the imperceptible flux and interval of things, of beings and of what exists" wrote Christine Buci-Glucksmann.[36][37][38][39] These objects, however, chiefly disappear; when preserved it is often knowingly, having been "rescued from ephemerality", though this practice is still fraught with uncertainty.[40][41] Libraries, for example, "are perpetually engaged in contesting ephemerality" and the likes of Heinrich von Kleist sought to document ephemeral experiences via literature.[42][43] Professor of English, Gillian Russell wrote that ephemerality "in both its material and conceptual senses can...be said to be a constitutive feature of the age of print that began in the mid-fifteenth century. It is increasingly constitutive of the emergent post-print age too".[44] It's a matter of varying scale and even breath can convey "the most ephemeral..aspects of human existence".[45][46]

Art Spigelman, in reference to the September 11 attacks, described the World Trade Center as “ephemeral as...old newspapers”.[47]

Ephemeral acquired its common meaning of short-living in the mid 19th century and has connotations of passing time, fragility, change, disappearance, transformation and the "philosophically ultimate vision of our own existence".[48][49][50][lower-alpha 1] During that greater period, the "similarly fleeting lives of flowers, illnesses, regimes, and persons" were aligned with the french term éphémère – which was closely aligned with the documentation of the quotdian: éphémérides.[52] According to Buci-Glucksmann, "the entire western history of the ephemeral seems to be dominated by melancholy", citing Baroque and Vanitas art as relevant examples; she notes Mujō as the Japanese concept of ephemeral and said that "More widely, there is a true culture of the ephemeral in Japan".[53][lower-alpha 2] The Japanese term mono no aware expresses further conceptualisation of ephemerality.[56] Cultural scholar, Alessandra Campoli wrote that cultural awareness of ephemerality is prevalent, there existing attempts to either mitigate or embrace the occurance.[57][lower-alpha 3]

Political scientist Roland Beiner, upon discussing political attempts to transform ephemerality, wrote that "neither theory nor practice will ever cure it in a way we may wish it could" surmising it to be intrinsic to the human condition.[4] Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett argued that "The ephemeral encompasses all forms of behavior – everyday activities, story-telling, ritual, dance, speech, performance of all kinds".[58] Professor of Theatre Becky Becker said that "Ephemerality is an embodied concept, connected to desire and based in our physical experience in the world".[59] Sarah Kofman questioned if "the beauty that conceals the evanescent nature of all things were itself ephemeral".[60] Charles Baudelaire considered aesthetics to be centered around an interplay of the perennial and the ephemeral.[61] Rather than melancholic, Sigmund Freud and Walter Pater viewed ephemerality as valuable; awareness and acceptance were to Freud commendable.[62][63] Buci-Glucksmann described "cosmic ephemeral[ity]" as a showcase of this perception.[64]

Defining ephemera, "the minor transient documents of everyday life" popularized notions of ephemerality and everyday life as intertwined. Samuel Johnson significantly contributed to the modern understanding of ephemerality, a burgeoning concept during his time.[65] The etymology of ephemeral relates to the natural sciences; ephemera, before Johnson, referred to mayflies, whose lifespan is a singular day.[52] Art scholar Allyson Purpura opined that "the idea of the ephemeral is inherently poetic", noting that various artists have drawn upon ephemerality to explore time and memory and, within artworks, it has been used to signify political critique, emotional introspection and spiritually.[37] Art scholar Mary O'Neil wrote that depictions of death in these artworks is often not generalised and instead visceral.[66] Kofman posited that art is utilised to abate the "intolerable nature of all ephemeral things".[60]

Visualisation of ephemerality in synchronous, in-person, communication between two or more parties.

In the digital realm, online interactions have been said to straddle permanency and ephemerality, there existing a "rapid cycle" of new posts; participants adopt a social norm that "the discourse will pass and be forgotten as the past".[67] Furthermore, digital media's encompassing archival process means that information of varying importance can either be affixed or ephemeral; digital personas, on account of precariousness and caprice, can be entierly ephemeral, without any record.[68][69] This archival process has been "widely acknowledged" to possibly "[solve]" ephemerality present in the internet.[70] Russell surmised that digital ephemeral material conjures an ostensibly perennial fear of an "undead" past persisting indefinitely, thus haunting the present.[71] Ephemeral aspects are evident in instant messages, as they "[simulate] a fleeting moment in time" – in person interactions also feature ephemerality.[67][72]

A significant amounts of living is ephemeral and the emergence of new digital media and technology develops what we deem ephemeral, to the point that, scholar of material culture, Sarah Wasserman questioned if ephemerality is an "outdated concept".[73][74][75] Websites such as Snapchat and Wickr make use of ephemerality, which is a technologically and socially reliant concept – relative and historically changing, as well.[72][74] The likes of Twitter are ostensibly ephemeral due to their cascading nature, thus the composition of some messages are altered.[70][76] Russell wrote that "ephemerality conditions the transformation of written communication in the digital sphere, as much as it did in the second phase of the print era".[77] The rudimentary technology of early radio led to the media broadcast being ephemeral and for a substantial amount of time spoken communication was ephemeral.[78][79][lower-alpha 4]

Due to its fragile and solid nature, Buci-Glucksmann used glass figurines as a metaphor for ephemerality.[38]

Within the context of modern media dissemination, YouTube videos, viral emails and photos have been identified as ephemeral; as have means of advertising, both physical and digital and the internet collectively.[81][82][83][lower-alpha 5] Ephemeral media has been described as that which is brief in duration and/or circulation, adjacent to "the primary texts of contemporary entertainment culture".[85] YouTube has "become a hugely successful aggregator of ephemeral media".[84] In 2009, Ian Christie considered that a substantial amount of modern media, aligned with "rapid proliferati[on]", "may prove much more ephemeral than the flip-book".[86] By the early 20th century, film was being used to document and combat ephemeral aspects of human development, such as "girlhood"; by the late 20th century, T. C. Worsley dubbed television the "ephemeral art".[87][88] Due to the social and temporal precariousness of film, media scholar Maria Antonia Velez Serna reflected that, philosophically speaking, "all cinema is ephemeral".[5][lower-alpha 6] Film professor Vinzenz Hediger described film as "Even more ephemeral than the book".[89]

Multiple academics, such as Clive Phillpot and William Hazlitt, have described various aspects of literature as ephemeral, including novels and definitions, bilateral when regarding physical and digital books.[42][90][91][92][93] Ephemeral was first used colloquially in reference to printed matters.[94] By 1750, an "expansion of all kinds of ephemeral print" had occurred; Russell described "all printed texts" as ephemeral.[95] Hazlitt contended that such ephemerality was the result of widespread aestheticism, thus the creations were subject to being abruptly disregarded due to the cascading "gaze of fashion".[92] Wallace Stevens adjusted his poetic standards due to a "perception of ephemerality" that living in New York City instigated.[96] Art Spiegelman asserted that the format of comics, even during degradation, defies ephemerality, although they have been deemed as such.[97] Women's writing, the likes of diaries and political pamphlets, have amassed a status as long being ephemeral, acknowledged by some affected in the then-present.[98][99] The ubiquity of digital media has spurred the opinion that print material is comparatively less ephemeral.[74] Elisa New and Anna Akhmatova varyingly opined that poetry is a means of repealing mortal ephemerality – Akhamatova invoked the aphorism ars longa vita brevis.[100][101]

Wang Tao, Stevens and Rubem Fonseca evoked ephemerality via female characters; Virginia Woolf used the rainbow as a symbol whereas grass occupies a similar role in the Bible; F. Scott Fitzgerald and John Keats elicited melancholic ephemerality in showcases of consumption.[102][103][55][104][105][106][107] Historically, the ephemerality of dreams was utilised in ample East Asian literature as a metaphor for immaterial reality.[108] Scholar of comparative literature Stuart Lasine noted that writers have frequently invoked ephemerality as a negative aspect of the human condition.[109] Ephemerality was profound to Dōgen and was intertwined with sorrow and regret; he used "the imagery of ephemerality" in a waka concerning death.[110]

Ephemerality has received increased attention from modern academics, in fields such as: literary studies, art history, book history, digital media studies, performance studies – "and the 'archival turn' in the humanities as a whole".[111][112] The ephemerality of dance has engendered concern since at least the sixteenth century.[113] Curators of modern and contemporary art have increasingly expressed a similar interest; curator of said genres Jan Schall described them as varyingly ephemeral.[40][114][lower-alpha 7] Ephemerality present in digital literature and poetry has seen critical analysis.[40] Russell questioned if scholarly conceptions of "the everyday" was deeply intertwined with ephemerality, despite attention to a relation being thus far faint.[115] Social historians and historians of sound have contended their subject's ephemerality by utilising more material forms; creative soundwork has long been subordinate to these forms on account of its ephemerality.[80][116][117]

Artworks of an intentionally volatile or finite status are those deemed ephemeral art, a global and long-standing occurrence, often potent in installation and ritual art.[37][119][120][121][lower-alpha 8] The Mapocho River embarkment had long served as a notable vessel for ephemeral art.[123] Ephemeral elements of decorative arts include: silver, glass, ceramics and furniture; Diane Victor uses the likes of glass, ash and smoke to accentuate themes of ephemerality.[124][125] Performance art has been described as ephemeral in nature; with regards to historical performances, the traces: playbills, scrapbooks of newspaper clippings and material artifacts are themselves ephemeral.[81][126] Witnessing a dance that will be rendered ephemeral is resultingly commodified and of greater desire to prospecting audiences; true is same of fairs.[127][128][lower-alpha 9] Muñoz posisted that the physical proximation of dance, which coupled with the "shared rhythm", results in a unified yet ephemeral status of those engaged.[129] La Sylphide sees ephemerality as a notable theme.[55] Professor of Dance Mark Franko contended that the artform is approaching a state of being "post-ephemeral".[113] The documentation of other ephemeral events: protests, installations, exhibitions, are often meager – public events, of varying size, naturally generate ephemeral material.[130][131][lower-alpha 10]

"[Ephemerality] and disposability" have been perceived as components "of an American ethos"; alternative history novels The Man in the High Castle and The Plot Against America depict Americana and the nation itself as ephemeral.[132][133] Ephemerality is central to the dominant religion of Thailand, Theravāda.[57] Ephemerality has been identified as relevant to queer cultures; José Esteban Muñoz argued that queerness and ephemerality are intertwined, as the former has been expressed in methods which are prone to fade upon the "touch of those who would erase queer possibility".[134][135] Freud considered culture as the prevailing element exempt from ephemerality.[62]

On Death, Part One, by Max Klinger which depicts life's ephemeral nature.[136]

During the Baroque period, wealthy patrons would commission ephemeral creations from well-known artists of the time.[137] "[N]otions of ephemerality" were a "pivotal concept" in the Victorian era, according to, scholar of Victorian literature, Paul Fyfe; broadsides of the time, he wrote, "seemed to take ephemerality to an extreme".[138][lower-alpha 11] Textual media then employed various bold and ornate visual and tactile methods to eschew ephemerality however by the mid 18th century varied ephemeral prints were integral to "almost every literate person's daily life" – the cheap print culture of that century was conceived as intentionally ephemeral.[49][140][141] Culturally, the late Georgian era rendered upon many critics as an "ephemeral age", definied by a precipitous regard to new materials; the advent of the telegraph, camera and film projector further instilled an understanding of ephemeral media.[92][142] "A taste for ephemeral was increasingly important over the course of the nineteenth century" and "As the nineteenth century progressed, ephemerality increasingly threatened to become a general condition", a condition contemporaries perceived as the "spirit of the age".[55][143]

Ephemerality, expressed both socially and materially, was profound in modernity and has "long been identified as [a] core attribute"; it was an iconoclastic feature of then-artworks and present in those of the later Dada and Fluxus movements.[37][144] The Surrealists sought an "adequate presentation of life's ephemerality".[145] Baudelaire defined the artistic componet of modernity by its purported ephemeral quality, a sentiment that modernists would later similarly echo.[146][43] The likes of Baudelaire, Georg Simmel and Walter Benjamin saw the distinctly and intentionally ephemeral practice of fashion as emblematic of modernity; it was due to them from which the perception of modernity as ephemeral arose.[147] Ephemerality was furthermore promient in the late 20th century, on account of multiple social features; Reiko Tomii described ephemerality as a "defining issue of the 1960s".[148][149] In the 21st century, ephemerality, Russell wrote, "continues to signify concerns about the overflow of information, its evanescence, and questions of what or should be preserved".[77] David Harvey defined postmodernism as "a total acceptance of ephemerality".[150]

Various forms of African visual art, such as Kuba art and traditional arts, have ephemerality as a key component; ephemeral art is a cultural feature in acts of coping, cautioning, protection and self-determination.[37][151][152][119] Lee Ufan noted a "very strong sense of ephemerality" in the works of fellow Mono-ha artists.[153] Ephemeral nature was a conceit of ukiyo-e prints.[154]

Architecture of an ephemeral nature appears as increasingly commonplace, on account of global and capricious hyper-mobility and mass displacement.[155] Marc Augé observed ephemerality as key to the likes of airports, malls, supermarkets, offices blocks, and hotels thus rendering them, per his definition, "non-places".[156] Architecture scholar Anastasia Karandinou argued that the practice's modern relation to ephemerality correlated with digital media's evolution, which she says has enabled new conceptions of space and everyday thinking.[157] Of an indefinite and contentious nature, the definition of a region is ephemeral.[158]

Look up ephemeral in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Ephemeroptera
• Vanitas
• On Transience

• Eeckhout, Bart; Goldfarb, Lisa, eds. (2012). Wallace Stevens, New York, and Modernism. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781136330452.
• Grainge, Paul, ed. (2011). Ephemeral Media: Transitory Screen Culture from Television to YouTube. Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-84457-435-3.
• Heine, Steve (2020). Readings of Dōgen's "Treasury of the True Dharma Eye". Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231544085.
• Russell, Gillian (2020). The Ephemeral Eighteenth Century: Print, Sociability, and the Cultures of Collecting. Cambridge Studies in Romanticism. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-48758-0.
• Fuller, David; Saunders, Corinne; Macnaughton, Jane, eds. (2021). The Life of Breath in Literature, Culture and Medicine. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-74443-4. ISSN 2634-6435.
• The Multigraph Collective (2018). Interacting with Print: Elements of Reading in the Era of Print Saturation. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226469287.
• Wasserman, Sarah (2020). The Death of Things: Ephemera and the American Novel. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-1-4529-6414-0.
• Zieger, Susan (2018). The Mediated Mind: Affect, Ephemera, and Consumerism in the Nineteenth Century. Fordham University Press. ISBN 978-0-8232-7985-2.

• Christine Buci-Glucksmann, Esthetique De L'ephemere, Galilee, ISBN 2-7186-0622-3