Take Your Time
Wannina Somboonvechakarn
What time is it? A clock has always been be able to tell us what time it is, but never tells us what ‘time’ is. Humans decided to use the orbit of the earth and the swing of the pendulum to structure time, but who deter- mines whether one year consists of 12 months, months contain 30 days, a day is composed of 24 hours, an hour is formed by 60 minutes and a minute is made up of 60 seconds? It is us humans who invented these socially constructed systems of time keeping, giving it power; we are governed by time and to some extent, are we the slaves of time? But is time an illusion? We may not know what time is, but the fundamental experience of it plays a vital role in our lives. Humans are constantly reminded of time: in remembering our past, making plans for the future and living our lives with the constant tick-tock. My thesis project is an exploration of time in a subjective manner. Why does one week of break pass by so fast compared to a week of school? Time for everyone is unique, its parameters are deter- mined by individuals, such as emotions, environment and plans. I am interested in time in relationship to subjectivity; how time can be expanded and condensed in one’s mind. In addition, I am interested in the idea of natural time keeping system rather than the constructed one where natural features portray its longevity and communicate time.