Space-time Bending Instrument

2024

Kinetic light installation

Technique: microcontroller, pendulum clock mechanism, linear unit, motor, aluminium structure, laser level, astronomical tripod, net, contact microphone, loudspeaker

Dimensions: 6m x 0.7m x 3m

The installation models the relative nature of time by modifying the operation of a pendulum clock mechanism. Unlike usual, the rhythm of time—which typically seems clear to us as a sequence of seconds—is not created by gravitational force acting on the pendulum. Instead, the structure is displaced by a motor-driven attachment point, deviating it from its usual pace. As a result, the clockwork slows down in response to signals from the motor control program, creating a new, unique time dimension.

The installation also features a microphone integrated into the clock, amplifying and making audible the rhythm produced when the pendulum-replacing structure hits its endpoints, making the gears click. The motor-driven metal structure, which dictates the clock's rhythm, includes two equally spaced laser levelers projecting patterns onto mesh panels hung on either side of the artwork. These projections expand and contract depending on the movement, representing the relativity of space and time in the cosmos.

By disrupting the rhythm that is usually perceived as stable, the installation suggests—echoing the theory of relativity—that we are capable of altering our own sense of time simply by changing our speed or position.

Exhibited:

 • Our Unlikely Coordinates, Szikra Art Gallery, Budapest, Hungary, 12/09/2024 - 02/11/2024

 • Floating in Space-time – Continuously Shifting Coordinates, King St. Stephen Museum, Székesfehérvár, Hungary, 07/06/2024 - 01/09/2024