Still Moving Images: Natality, Art and the Temporal Structure of Inheritance

Abstract

This article theorizes the temporal structure of inheritance through a close analysis of two art works that perform creative appropriations of a historical photograph. Drawing on Hannah Arendt’s concept of natality, I theorize three temporal modalities which I argue are central to the task of inheritance. I suggest that natality time provides a renewed temporal grounding for thinking about inheritance, and turn to works of art that reference the past as opportunities for engaging in more imaginative practices of inheritance.