The ephemeral lasts a short time.
The term ephemeral , which comes from a Greek word that means "of a day" , allows us to name something that is temporary or short-lived . Something ephemeral has a short life and disappears after a short time .
For example: a soccer player is hired by a club, plays two games and terminates his contract. The press speaks, then, of the ephemeral time of the player in question for the team .
"We have been together for thirty-eight years, we only had short-lived fights," a man can explain, referring to a long-term marriage. The ephemeral is the opposite of the extensive, long and lasting.
ephemeral art
In the same way, we cannot ignore the existence of what is known as ephemeral art. When we are referring to it, we are referring to an artistic expression that has a perishable nature and that, therefore, does not leave a lasting object for posterity. If you leave it, under no circumstances will it be representative of the stage in which it was created.
There are many types of art that would be included in this category. Specifically, among the most significant would be fashion, body-art, gastronomy, graffiti and even pyrotechnics and tattoos.
It is important to highlight that when we talk about ephemeral art we are referring to a type of artistic expression that inevitably depends on social taste and trends. Hence, in order to become a reference at a given moment, it is required that both the media and the art criticism sector itself play their cards and intervene in it.
In the same way, in addition to all the examples cited as ephemeral art, we have to determine that the development and expansion of the aforementioned new technologies have also given rise to the existence of new types of art. Specifically, under this name there are also lasers, night art that brings with it neon, graphic design or the so-called sound art, which is the union of sound with the visual arts.
Soap bubbles are ephemeral: they explode shortly after their creation.
Other uses of the notion
The cachipolla , an insect two centimeters long with spots on its wings that lives on the edges of the water, is known as an ephemeral since its life barely lasts a day.
Stephen II , for his part, is usually mentioned as the short-lived Pope since he died three days after being elected, in 752 . The religious does not appear in the unofficial lists of pontiffs since he died before being ordained as bishop of Rome , a requirement to be pope at that time.
On a philosophical level, the ephemeral is associated with the little relevant, superficial and inconsequential. It is assumed that the fine arts and the highest manifestations of culture manage to last over time (therefore they are not ephemeral): «The art critic assured that the current exhibition mounted in the Museum of Fine Arts will have an ephemeral life and It will soon be forgotten by the attendees .