a "reddish streak": landscapes as moving art

We mentioned briefly the idea of space and time in relation to Bernard’s position on the train, and I’d like to further this discussion by analyzing how Bernard’s position as spectator is complicated by his movement through—and incorporation into—the landscape that surrounds him.  Rather than the objective view of a stationary observer, Bernard’s subjective view of the landscape—how “things are losing the bald, the separate identity . . . the great red pot is now a reddish streak in a wave of yellowish green” (137)—illustrates the way in which movement through space creates the illusion of a moving landscape.  If we think about the way in which early cinema operated—to create a sense of transport in the viewer—an illusion of movement that created real emotions in the viewers—we can envision Bernard’s movement through space as a similarly emotional experience.  Film critic Giuliana Bruno suggests that it is this physical movement that also creates the sense of “emotional transport”—that motion is an integral part of emotions. 

This moving landscape, as a kind of art, functions in a different way from the paintings Bernard views in the art gallery after Percival's death.  The “reddish streak” evokes images of artwork, a brushstroke, recalling Bernard’s visit to an art gallery (112).  The pictures that Bernard studies in this gallery, however, are not impressionistic as the "streak" suggests, but are "cold madonnas among their pillars," evoking a sense of classical art that is precise in its form and structure.  These "pictures" allow Bernard to get outside his own consciousness.  They “don’t make any reference” (a seeming stab at language), suggesting Bernard’s questioning of language to convey meaning/truth.  As unmoving objects, this stationary artwork as stable and unchanging contrasts to lives, constantly in flux.  Perhaps because these pictures are inanimate, unable to provoke, they serve as a solace for Bernard--not so much because they evoke a different emotion in Bernard but because they allow him to experience the absence of sorrow.

Okay, now for a physics person to tackle the question of space/time…..