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Time Machine

Controlling the Flow of Time — One Frame at a Time

In Short

The Time Machine is an interactive time-lapse installation that lets you pause, rewind, or fast-forward time. Using a simple control panel, you can observe long-term transformations in matter — from fungal growth and crystal formation to chemical diffusion and pigment migration. Inside the display case, a physical object evolves continuously over the course of the event. Visitors can return hours or days later and witness how the process has progressed in real time — while also browsing archived time-lapse recordings from previous festivals.

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Details and Theory

Natural processes often unfold too slowly for the human eye to perceive. Whether biological (e.g., fungal metabolism, tissue growth), chemical (e.g., diffusion, crystallization, pH changes), or physical (e.g., phase transitions, dehydration, pigment movement), these transformations are governed by gradual, time-dependent dynamics.

The Time Machine bridges this perceptual gap through time-lapse imaging: a high-resolution camera inside the case records periodic snapshots of the ongoing transformation. These frames are later compiled into compressed video sequences that reveal hours or days of change in just seconds.

Visitors interact with the installation via physical buttons:

  • Play/Pause displays the time-lapse at a natural pace

  • Rewind/Fast-forward enables exploration of the transformation in reverse or accelerated motion

  • Arrow buttons access archived projects from previous exhibitions and festivals

Crucially, the display also shows the live physical object that is being recorded — allowing for direct comparison between the current state and its accelerated history. Visitors returning later in the day (or over multiple days) can track how the experiment has progressed in both real and compressed time.

By visualizing the kinetics of natural processes — how fast and how far changes propagate — the Time Machine invites us to engage with time not just as a background dimension, but as an active variable in science, nature, and perception.