ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book describes on non-western temporalities and how they might intersect with the hegemonic time propagated by colonialism and perpetuated by capitalism. It includes reflections on specific works and historical moments for the insights they bring to broader philosophical and political questions. The book argues that works of art seethe with the confusion of multiple forms of time in their very materials, and that the materials bear traces of the temporal systems of the cultures for which they were made. It emphasizes the incommensurability between chronological time and the traditional time systems of India. The book focuses on ancient works that were deliberately filled with the kind of presence now attributed to the modern notion of ''art'' and associated with aesthetic response. It provides a thorough analysis of an installation by Sarah Sze at the 2015 Venice biennale.
