Sarah Sze – Timekeeper from Fly’s Eye Films on Vimeo.
Timekeeper (2016) is a multimedia sculpture currently on exhibition at Guggenheim Museum NYC by New York-based artist Sarah Sze. This artwork is unconventional considered both from its name and its nature. As a “Timekeeper”, it does not track or suggest the linear flow of time. As a sculpture, it does not have a clear boundary between the artwork and its surroundings and looks like some kind of post-apocalyptic, mechanical punk machine that evolves unnaturally at first sight. However, the unconventionality: both the nonlinear time flow and the chaotic look, echos with and moves me as they represent how we our perception of time and information distorts in the overwhelming modern world. It also sparked within me some philosophical discussion on the nature of time.
First and foremost, I feel that the whole set, when observed from a distance, is a representation of our memory. The projectors and screens playing back videos are set upon everyday objects, symbolizing the emerging memories from the vast sea of consciousness we perceive every day. Our consciousness is also something quite mystical, which we harness but do not fully understand it. This piece suggests so as well: its chaotic, amorphous, and sprawling rendering of everyday objects combined with the beeping sounds in the background of different periods adds a layer of eeriness and mystery upon that, sparking the audience’s urge to investigate deeper.
Time hence also flows differently in this subjective perception setting. For instance, the scene showing the demolition of a building includes intermittent flashbacks to the pre-demolition state, reminding me of the flashbacks and nostalgia frequently triggered in the course of my life. Another scene showing the still images of different animals moving at their relative speeds also reminds me of we perceive the speed of time flow differently based on current circumstances. This feeling is emphasized further by the actual nonlinearly counting “clocks” in the installation. They are either traditional timekeeping devices or other objects that follow time. For example, there is a metronome swinging at random speeds. Observing this, I felt a strong sense of uneasiness and eeriness by such a direct and materialistic representation of the distortion of time, one of the quantities we treat as the eternal constant, under most conditions.
Inevitably coming with the flow of time is the modern deluge of time-sensitive, fractured information. The video and images shown from screens and projectors include different scenes worldwide, fractured by mirrors or torn papers, surrounding the sculpture. Random images overwhelm the main installation, which, observed in detail, turned out to be a studio setup with office chairs, desks, and computers.
I can also feel a sense of detachment of modern life from nature. As an artist, the centerpiece, the studio, obviously symbolizes the main life of the creator Sarah Sze. However, it can also mean the wider concept of one’s career. Hence, generalizing to the audience like myself, I felt that the fast-paced, overwhelming modern life drags us into a dark room like this, detached from nature. Being in a dark room, one can no longer feel the rise and fall of the sun and the change in seasons, which can also be another interpretation of the distorted time.
As somebody who is interested in science, this piece also let me think about the philosophy behind the nature of “time” beyond the probably intended interpretation of this piece with respect to memory and modern life. Just like how we interact with other physical quantities in the world, we perceive time using our senses. But different from quantities such as mass and fundamental forces whose objectivity can be deduced from the model fundamental particles, time is still highly sensory. Although Einstein’s general relativity can quantify time distortion under extreme circumstances, exploiting the interpretation of time’s effects to the degree of reverting space and time in black holes, we still have not reached its nature or its cause. What causes time? What is time’s link to the law of cause and effect? If everything is still, does time still flows? From my very own inventory of limited knowledge, some of these questions may have been solved or taken forward by physicists and can thus become unnecessary. But reflecting upon the fact that these questions and thoughts spawned from my viewing of this piece, I can say that it may have also inspired other audiences to ponder these philosophical questions and set on a quest to solve them. Maybe one day, the inventor of the long-anticipated time machine will speak in front of the press, “I was inspired by this piece I saw in Guggenheim decades ago and I thought ‘my time has come'”.