JUAN  BERMÚDEZ

Before 2030, time will be redefined, as it has been throughout history. Prior to the 19th century the concept of standardized time did not exist. However, as modernity took hold in the 19th century, the idea of a local and embodied time encountered challenges.The rise of ideals such as a profit-driven economy and standardization within a European context demanded the establishment of a "correct time".

 

It was within this context that places like train stations and bureaucratic offices, designed for efficiency, also created moments of stagnation, where individuals had to synchronize their time to an idealized, abstract standard. This was a new form of "systemic waiting" that could be predicted, measured, and controlled.

Just as liquids conform to the vessel that contains them, time is shaped by the social, technological, and political factors of a specific era. The six printers in this artwork tirelessly produce five distinct definitions of units of time. From the astonishing precision of our current concept of a second to the rhythm of a Sanskrit treatise in Indian astronomy, the "moment" as conceived by medieval monks, or the nanocentury devised by IBM at the dawn of the computer age.

 

The emergence of a new definition of a second makes us consider how we wish to define our future units of time. Will an entirely abstract measure, like the hexadecimal minute or other proposals, be relevant for a future where humans might not even exist or inhabit Earth?

 

While the new second definition is under development, please wait to be...