call for papers diségno No. 19 - DE TEMPORE Declinations of Time and Its ReprEsentations
DE TEMPORE
Declinations of Time and Its ReprEsentations
edited by Laura Farroni, Manuela Incerti, Alessandra Pagliano
Time is a complex dimension that permeates matter, space, language and memory. It shapes human experience and informs our understanding of the world, while also constituting an object of representation in visual, technical, scientific and artistic terms, as well as a measurable variable. From the vast scale of geological and erosive cycles to the infinitesimal dimension of Planck time, nature presents temporal models that challenge conventional linear representation and call for epistemic approaches to observation, capable of transcending the limits of human perception.
The call for papers for issue no. 19/2026 of the journal diségno aims to explore how time manifests itself and is transposed into processes related to drawing, both in the stages involved in graphic representation and, above all, in those related to investigation, understanding, conception and communication. By virtue of this theoretical and practical framework, the academic discipline of Drawing is required to deal with multiple meanings of time: permanent, changeable, measurable; natural or technological; linear or cyclical; real or imagined; and so on...
The DE TEMPORE call for papers aims to create an open, transdisciplinary space for reflection on these themes, in which Drawing is both the focal point and the critical tool.
Proposed Thematic Sections
- 1. Permanence and Perspectives of Time
In this section, time is understood as the measure of the drawing's resistance and adaptability, its ability to adapt itself to disruptive factors without losing identity: in this sense, techniques, tools and forms of representation have passed through different historical eras and cultural contexts while maintaining their functional and symbolic coherence. Conversely, digital technological innovation has profoundly altered our relationship with time, increasingly involving acceleration, synchronisation and artificial temporalities. In this critical and rapidly changing context, the disciplines of drawing face new operational and narrative approaches in which the temporal dimension is often integrated, simulated or, at times, altered. - 2. Time in Art
Art has historically chosen time as a privileged focus of investigation, whether understood as duration, a fleeting moment, memory, anticipation or else, translating it respectively into shapes, gestures, colors or rhythms. This exploration emerges through representations that encompass discontinuity, symbols and abstractions, finding in drawing and visual storytelling a fertile ground for exploring even temporal paradoxes. In this space, inversions, repetitions and narrative short-circuits challenge linearity, transforming the work into a site of speculation where alternative models of temporality and unconventional narrative hypotheses come to life. - 3. Spaces of Time
The interaction between Space and Time is manifested in many various forms: architectures, environment and landscapes conceived not merely as containers, but as organisms responsive to duration, memory, decay, and cyclicality. From this perspective, Time ceases to function as an abstract parameter and becomes an active agent that shapes form, organises space, and governs the behaviour of light. This reflection also extends towards the distant future, where design moves beyond the boundaries of the present and becomes a tool for critical and project-oriented exploration, including speculative representations of utopian or dystopian scenarios.
Full paper submission: July 31st, 2026
Notification of final acceptance: September 10th, 2026
Revised full paper in English: October 10th, 2026
Issue publication: December 31st, 2026
