Date of Award
Spring 5-22-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Department
Digital Media
First Advisor
Adela Goldbard
Second Advisor
Daniel Lefcourt
Third Advisor
Leah Beeferman
Abstract
The train moves continuously, yet it never seems to arrive. Inside, light shifts, sound repeats, and space unfolds from one carriage to the next. There is a persistent sense of forward motion, but no clear destination. The experience is familiar, yet difficult to locate within a fixed point in time. We often understand time as something that flows—a linear progression from past to present to future. However, what we perceive may not be time itself, but changes in our environment. A light turns off. A door opens. A sound fades. These events create the sensation of movement, allowing us to distinguish one moment from another. If time is constructed through events, then its form may not be linear. Instead, it may be structured, layered, or even fragmented. What appears as continuous flow could be the result of transitions between discrete conditions. This project begins from that question.Rather than representing time directly, it constructs a spatial system in which time can be experienced differently. The train serves as an organizing structure, not as a narrative device. Each carriage functions as a distinct temporal condition, shaped by interaction and perception.As the viewer moves forward, they do not simply progress along a timeline. They move between different configurations of time. In this space, time is not measured. It is encountered.
Recommended Citation
xu, ziqi, "In Transit" (2026). Masters Theses. 1559.
https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/masterstheses/1559
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.