Ephemerality (from the Greek word ἐφήμερος , meaning 'lasting only one day' ) is the concept of things being transitory, existing only briefly. Academically, the term ephemeral constitutionally describes a diverse assortment of things and experiences, from digital media to types of streams. "There is no single definition of ephemerality". With respect to unique performances, for example, it has been noted that "[e]phemerality is a quality caused by the ebb and flow of the crowd's concentration on the performance and a reflection of the nostalgic character of specific performances". Because different people may value the passage of time differently, ephemerality may be a relative, perceptual concept: "In brief, what is short-lived may not be the object itself, but the attention we afford it".
45-829: The Wickham River is an ephemeral river , located in the Victoria Bonaparte bioregion of the Northern Territory in Australia . The headwaters of the Wickham River are situated on an area of rugged stony hills and a sandstone plateau as the river rises on the southeastern slopes of Mt Kimon. It flows generally northeast, joined by seven tributaries including the Humbert River, Soda Springs Creek, Depot Creek and Broadarrow Creek and through one permanent waterhole, Johnston Billabong , before reaching its confluence with
90-437: A waka concerning death. Ephemerality has received increased attention from modern academics, in fields such as: literary studies , art history , book history, digital media studies , performance studies – "and the 'archival turn' in the humanities as a whole". The ephemerality of dance has engendered concern since at least the sixteenth century. Curators of modern and contemporary art have increasingly expressed
135-534: A region is ephemeral. Pteropus Pteropus (suborder Yinpterochiroptera ) is a genus of megabats which are among the largest bats in the world. They are commonly known as fruit bats or flying foxes , among other colloquial names. They live in South Asia , Southeast Asia , Australia , East Africa , and some oceanic islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. There are at least 60 extant species in
180-582: A hugely successful aggregator of ephemeral media". In 2009, Ian Christie considered that a substantial amount of modern media, aligned with "rapid proliferati[on]", "may prove much more ephemeral than the flip-book ". Wang Tao , Stevens and Rubem Fonseca evoked ephemerality via female characters; Virginia Woolf used the rainbow as a symbol whereas grass occupies a similar role in the Bible; F. Scott Fitzgerald and John Keats elicited melancholic ephemerality in showcases of consumption . Historically,
225-656: A matter of decades. Furthermore, ephemerality can be perceived as defiance of value or durability; common uses of the term indicate a "complicated relationship between temporality and value". Ephemerality is a matter of varying scale and can affect the entire spectrum of literature, from a "finely bound" Bible to a "hastily printed" handbill: "Paper is the medium of permanence and ephemerality at once". Due to them often outlasting their expressed purpose, these objects can be perceived as temporal and ontological oddities; ephemerality has been described as constitutionally liminal. Ephemerality has been seen as indicative of epochs like
270-458: A river network is a particularly significant element in the hydrological transmission of waterborne diseases , via a direct and indirect presence in the transmission cycle – the nature of the disease and area covered are important factors as well. Diseases like malaria , dengue fever , chikungunya , zika and schistosomiasis are found in ephemeral waterbodies due to their vectors relation and/or reliance. Examples of ephemeral streams are
315-490: A seasonal manner. Landscapes feature ephemeral changes of both natural and man-made origin. Furrows , haystacks and sheaves are ephemeral aspects of a landscape. Plants whose life cycle is significantly less than the time of a growing season are deemed ephemeral. Winter annuals , Epilobium and Senecio vulgaris are examples of ephemeral plants. The conditions for ephemeral plants are markedly present in deserts. Animals can be ephemeral, with brine shrimp and
360-574: A similar interest; curator of said genres Jan Schall described them as varyingly ephemeral. Ephemerality present in digital literature and poetry has seen critical analysis. Russell questioned if scholarly conceptions of "the everyday" was deeply intertwined with ephemerality, despite attention to a relation being thus far faint. Social historians and historians of sound have contended their subject's ephemerality by utilising more material forms; creative soundwork has long been subordinate to these forms on account of its ephemerality. The ephemerality of
405-514: A social norm that "the discourse will pass and be forgotten as the past". Ephemerality is a technologically and socially reliant concept – relative and historically changing. The rudimentary technology of early radio led to the media broadcast being ephemeral and for a substantial amount of time spoken communication was ephemeral. Written communication, historically and presently, has been influenced by ephemerality. The emergence of new digital media and technology develops what we deem ephemeral, to
450-404: A status as long being ephemeral, acknowledged by some affected in the then-present. The ubiquity of digital media has spurred the opinion that print material is comparatively less ephemeral. Elisa New and Anna Akhmatova varyingly opined that poetry is a means of repealing mortal ephemerality, with Akhamatova invoking the aphorism ars longa, vita brevis ("skillfulness takes time and life
495-653: A thoroughly modern experience". Ephemerality was furthermore prominent in the late 20th century, on account of multiple social features; Reiko Tomii described ephemerality as a "defining issue of the 1960s". In the 21st century, ephemerality "continues to signify concerns about the overflow of information, its evanescence, and questions of what or should be preserved". David Harvey defined postmodernism as "a total acceptance of ephemerality". Architecture of an ephemeral nature appears as increasingly commonplace, on account of global and capricious hyper-mobility and mass displacement. Marc Augé observed ephemerality as key to
SECTION 10
#1732852041577540-897: A varied and global occurrence. In northeastern United States , ephemeral freshwater systems are abundant and are "critical to the maintenance of forest biodiversity". Hydroperiod, predation, competition and food availability are among the "highly heterogeneous" elements of these features. In tropical biomes, amphibians often reside in ephemeral habitats during dry seasons; opportunistic species utilise similar and ephemeral habitats for food, sleep or mating. Environments akin to ephemeral ponds can be very significant sites of reproduction for amphibians; many other organism make use of ephemeral ponds, pools and streams to breed. Those which do utilise these sites are significantly constrained by time thus they mature, reproduce or disperse before evaporation. Ephemeral pools lasting only days or weeks are exclusively used for breeding by Fletcher's frog regardless of
585-512: Is also transmitted by flying foxes—it affects more people, with over 100 attributed fatalities. They have cultural significance to indigenous people, with appearances in traditional art, folklore, and weaponry. Their fur and teeth were used as currency in the past. Some cultures still use their teeth as currency today. The genus name Pteropus was coined by French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1762. Prior to 1998, genus authority
630-402: Is contingent. Baudelaire, who considered aesthetics to be centered around an interplay of the perennial and the ephemeral, defined the artistic component of modernity by its ephemeral quality. Sarah Kofman posited that art is utilised to abate the "intolerable nature of all ephemeral things". Ephemerality has been relevant to a considerable amount of art; various artists have drawn upon
675-575: Is named in honour of Captain John Clements Wickham who sailed up the 200 kilometres (124 mi) Victoria River in 1839 aboard HMS Beagle . Ephemeral An ephemeral stream is that which only exists following precipitation . They are not the same as intermittent or seasonal waterbodies, which exist for longer periods, but not all year round. Ephemeral streams can be difficult to "conceptually defin[e]"; those that are discontinuous, due to altering between aggradation or degradation, have
720-450: Is short"). Ephemeral objects chiefly disappear; when preserved it is often knowingly, having been "rescued from ephemerality", though this practice is still fraught with uncertainty and an object's ephemerality may only be suspended, thus still capable of being transitory. The legacy of ephemerality often manifests as "traces, glimmers, residues, and specks of things". Literature may contest, document or approximate ephemerality although
765-1275: The Luni river in Rajasthan , India , Ugab River in Southern Africa , and a number of small ephemeral watercourses that drain Talak in northern Niger . Other notable ephemeral rivers include the Todd River and Sandover River in Central Australia as well as the Son River , Batha River , and the Trabancos River . Any endorheic basin , or closed basin, that contains a playa (dry lake) at its drainage lowpoint can become an ephemeral lake. Examples include Lake Carnegie in Western Australia , Lake Cowal in New South Wales , Mystic Lake and Rogers Lake in California, and Sevier Lake in Utah . Even
810-537: The Victoria River , south of the Fitzgerald Range near Pompey Knob. The Wickham River descends 256 metres (840 ft) over its 198-kilometre (123 mi) course . The Judbarra / Gregory National Park was established in 1981 encompassing much of the catchment . Mount Sanford was exhumed to enlarge the park boundaries in 1996. The Wickham flows for only six months of the year, during the wet season . During
855-581: The dry season , a string of waterholes form along the course of the river some of which are spring-fed and almost permanent. When Lawrence Wells started his trigonometric survey of the Northern Territory in 1905 he formed his depot on the Wickham River not too far from Victoria River Downs Station homestead. The area surrounding the Wickham River are the traditional lands of the Aboriginal community of Yarralin , also known as Walangeri. The river
900-499: The human condition , a phenomenon of physicality. A significant amount of living is ephemeral, considered by some as a component of everyday life: "we might best understand the ephemeral as a routine and constant force... that establishes the presence of the everyday". Ephemeral aspects are evident in communication, of both digitial and physical origin. In the digital realm, online interactions straddle permanency and ephemerality, new posts proliferate such that participants adopt
945-416: The mayfly being examples. The placenta is considered an ephemeral organ present during gestation and pregnancy . Ephemerality is a component of olfaction , breathing, speech and memory, aligned with permanency in the latter. With regards to witnessing an artwork in a museum, limited research indicates that the ephemerality of solely gazing at the artwork results in greater remembrance compared to
SECTION 20
#1732852041577990-401: The "touch of those who would erase queer possibility". Freud considered culture as the prevailing element exempt from ephemerality. Scheibe saw the likes of live theater, travel abroad, stand-up comedy, and political pundits as engendering greater ephemerality by reducing attention spans and sense of personal history. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels ' perception of ephemerality "represents
1035-408: The 21st century—the advent of the telegraph , camera , and film projector instilled an understanding of ephemeral media. Scholars such as Charles Baudelaire , Georg Simmel , and Walter Benjamin saw the distinctly and intentionally ephemeral practice of fashion as emblematic of modernity. Scholars have described ephemerality as affixed to the present , a present that is ephemeral insofar as it
1080-510: The High Castle and The Plot Against America depict Americana and the nation itself as ephemeral. Ephemerality has been central to Buddhism; Yogācāra teaches a version of ontology that centers around universal ephemerality . Ephemerality has been identified as relevant to queer cultures ; José Esteban Muñoz argued that queerness and ephemerality are intertwined, as the former has been expressed in methods which are prone to fade upon
1125-635: The Printing Revolution, a greater expansion thereof, the Baroque era, the Victorian era , the Georgian era , modernity , or the "emergent post-print age". The likes of food, clothes, novels, zines , illnesses, breath, regimes, persons, glass, ash and ephemera have been said to illustrate and/or be affected by ephemerality. The new media of the 20th century conditioned perceptions of ephemerality in
1170-540: The appearance of continual change. Furthermore, the characteristics of terrain and rainfall are profound in affecting ephemeral streams. Ephemeral waterbodies experience formative change upon the end of a hydroperiod. "Due to lack of continuous hydrology data, the designation of sites as ephemeral or intermittent is necessarily tenuous". Ephemeral streams feature a low degree of hydrological connectivity. Small wetlands are often ephemeral and ephemeral ecosystems are often aquatic; ephemeral wetlands , streams and ponds are
1215-497: The creations were subject to being abruptly disregarded due to the cascading "gaze of fashion". Wallace Stevens adjusted his poetic standards due to a "perception of ephemerality" that living in New York City instigated. Art Spiegelman asserted that the format of comics, even during degradation, defies ephemerality, although they have been deemed as such. Women's writing, the likes of diaries and political pamphlets, have amassed
1260-571: The driest and lowest place in North America, Death Valley (more specifically Badwater Basin ), became flooded with a short-lived ephemeral lake in the spring of 2005. Costelloe et al. (2009) describes salt lakes found in the arid zone of Australia as profoundly ephemeral. There are also ephemeral islands such as Banua Wuhu and Home Reef . These islands appear when volcanic activity increases their height above sea level, but disappear over several years due to wave erosion. Bassas da India , on
1305-646: The ecosystems of ephemeral pools. Ephemeral habitat patches have repeatedly been assessed as detrimental to metapopulation persistence, although metapopulations are not always negatively affected by ephemeral landscapes. These patches occur as a result of the habitat's turnover. Ephemeral streams have, relative to their perennial counterparts, lower species richness; the streams are "potentially demanding" for inhabitants, although some species do reside. Ephemeral rivers sometimes form waterholes in geological depressions or areas scoured by erosion, and are common in arid regions of Australia. The ephemerality of
1350-452: The ephemerality of dreams was utilised in ample East Asian literature as a metaphor for immaterial reality whereas Baroque writings depicted the matter as analogous to life. Scholar of comparative literature Stuart Lasine noted that writers have frequently invoked ephemerality as a negative aspect of the human condition . Ephemerality was profound to Dōgen and was intertwined with sorrow and regret; he used "the imagery of ephemerality" in
1395-725: The genus. Flying foxes eat fruit and other plant matter, and occasionally consume insects as well. They locate resources with their keen sense of smell. Most, but not all, are nocturnal . They navigate with keen eyesight, as they cannot echolocate . They have long life spans and low reproductive outputs , with females of most species producing only one offspring per year. Their slow life history makes their populations vulnerable to threats such as overhunting , culling , and natural disasters. Six flying fox species have been made extinct in modern times by overhunting. Flying foxes are often persecuted for their real or perceived role in damaging crops . They are ecologically beneficial by assisting in
Wickham River - Misplaced Pages Continue
1440-572: The immateral nature means that there can only be an approximation: "In other words, there must always be an ephemeral beyond the ephemeral". Film has been used to document and combat ephemeral aspects of human development. Digital media's encompassing archival process means that information of varying importance can either be affixed or ephemeral, the former seen as the more generally common outcome. Digital personas, on account of precariousness and whim, can be entirely ephemeral, without any record. Grey literature has prove particularly vulnerable to
1485-461: The internet and features that engender ephemerality, such as link rot , has elicited concern in regards to scholarly practice. Like a blade of grass, My frail body Treading the path to Kyoto Seeming to wander Amid the cloudy mist on Kinobe Pass. Dōgen . Ephemerality has been studied in the context of dancing. Witnessing a dance that will be rendered ephemeral is resultingly commodified and of greater desire to prospecting audiences;
1530-593: The internet's ephemerality. Ephemeral acquired its common meaning of short-living in the mid-19th century and has connotations of passing time, fragility, change, disappearance, transformation, and the "philosophically ultimate vision of our own existence". Sarah Kofman questioned if "the beauty that conceals the evanescent nature of all things were itself ephemeral". Rather than melancholic, Sigmund Freud and Walter Pater viewed ephemerality as valuable; awareness and acceptance were to Freud commendable. Multiple scholars have viewed ephemerality as intrinsic to
1575-406: The likes of airports, malls, supermarkets, office blocks, and hotels thus rendering them, per his definition, " non-places ". Architecture scholar Anastasia Karandinou argued that the practice's modern relation to ephemerality correlated with digital media's evolution, which she says has enabled new conceptions of space and everyday thinking. Of an indefinite and contentious nature, the definition of
1620-423: The matter to explore time, memory, politics, emotions, spirituality and death. The Dada , Fluxus , Surreal, and Futurist movements all incorporated ephemerality as have Kuba , Mono-ha , and ukiyo-e . Perceptions of ephemerality vary between cultures, from melancholy and mitigation to embrace. Performance art has frequently been described as ephemeral in nature; with regards to historical performances,
1665-464: The other hand, is a near-sea level island that appears only at low tide. On account of changing demarcation, shores exist as ephemeral. Only a small amount of southern Costa Rica 's secondary forests reach maturity, indicating that they may be "generally ephemeral". Deciduous forests, via the seasonal change of leaves, are subject to natural ephemeral changes. Ephemeral pools located in forests are commonly known as "vernal pools", often lasting in
1710-464: The point that ephemerality is perhaps an "outdated concept". Within the context of modern media dissemination, YouTube videos, viral emails and photos have been identified as ephemeral; as have means of advertising, both physical and digital and the internet collectively. Ephemeral media has been described as that which is brief in duration and/or circulation, adjacent to "the primary texts of contemporary entertainment culture". YouTube has "become
1755-605: The precarious survival of offspring. Fletcher's frogs use these sites to exploit them, by-passing predation and competition. Tadpoles , however, are hindered by ephemeral streams, as can surrounding systems. Limited and unpredictable food availability means ephemeral waterbodies may be rife with cannibalism . Specific adaptions to ephemeral pools are abundant. Human alterations to the habitats of ephemeral nectar that flying foxes consume has led to urban migration. Climate change significantly affects ephemeral freshwater systems and changes in climates may be precisely identified by
1800-418: The regeneration of forests via seed dispersal . They benefit ecosystems and human interests by pollinating plants. Like other bats, flying foxes are relevant to humans as a source of disease, as they are the reservoirs of rare but fatal disease agents including Australian bat lyssavirus , which causes rabies , and Hendra virus ; seven known human deaths have resulted from these two diseases. Nipah virus
1845-552: The resulting memory from taking a photograph. Psychologists have studied why ephemerality may improve memory retention; social psychologist Karl E. Scheibe, conversely, suggested that ephemeral images are only memorable if repeated. The ephemerality of memory leads objects to assume the function of begeting remembrance on account of their greater stability. Objects which are ephemeral, per one perspective, are those whose compositional material experience chemical or physical changes and are thus permanently altered; this process occurs in
Wickham River - Misplaced Pages Continue
1890-781: The same is true of fairs . Muñoz posited that the physical proximation of dance, which coupled with the "shared rhythm", results in a unified yet ephemeral status of those engaged. La Sylphide sees ephemerality as a notable theme. Professor of Dance Mark Franko contended that the artform is approaching a state of being "post-ephemeral" while Diane Taylor viewed the lasting impact a performance may have as negating notions of ephemerality. The documentation of other ephemeral events: protests, installations, exhibitions, are often meager – public events, of varying size, naturally generate ephemeral material. "[Ephemerality] and disposability" have been perceived as components "of an American ethos"; alternative history novels such as The Man in
1935-423: The traces: playbills, scrapbooks of newspaper clippings and material artifacts are themselves ephemeral. Literature is ephemeral, including definitions and "all printed texts". Ephemeral was first used colloquially in reference to printed matters. By 1750, an "expansion of all kinds of ephemeral print" had occurred. Hazlitt contended that such ephemerality was the result of widespread aestheticism , thus
1980-567: Was a "rejected work" for nomenclatural purposes. Despite rejecting the majority of the publication, the ICZN decided to conserve a dozen generic names from the work and retain Brisson as authority, including Pteropus . The type species of the genus is the Mauritian flying fox , Pteropus niger (described as Vespertilio vampyrus niger by Robert Kerr in 1792). The decision to designate P. niger as
2025-646: Was sometimes given to German naturalist Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben . Although the Brisson publication (1762) predated the Erxleben publication (1777), thus giving him preference under the Principle of Priority , some authors gave preference to Erxleben as genus authority because Brisson's publication did not consistently use binomial nomenclature . In 1998, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) decided that Brisson's 1762 publication
#576423