On Second Thought
Through an investigation into the evolution of timekeeping, and the understanding of how contemporary temporal systems have been created, the installation aspires to deconstruct some of the rigid ideas that have attached themselves to timekeeping tools. Time is a reflection of the politics that control social structures as the standardization of time has historically been the tool for governance, efficiency and control. Time, however, is not merely an imposed structure, but it is also a fluid concept which has continuously adapted to societal imperatives. Through an interdisciplinary lens, the research investigates disruptions in time perception, the interplay between mechanical and nature based rhythms, and the potential for designing a new system that fosters agency and adaptability rather than control. Alternative to the current time system, the installation proposes a flexible, non-hierarchical, and human-centered temporal structure.
The installation unfolds as a slow, multi-step interaction. It begins with a mechanical system that only activates when a person is present—time, in this space, is not autonomous but contingent on attention. A motorized disk rotates slowly, eventually aligning with a marble tube and allowing marbles to fall one at a time. These marbles accumulate in a bowl positioned on one side of a seesaw. When twelve marbles have collected—symbolically referencing the divisions of a clock—the weight tips the seesaw. This motion causes the marbles to spill, while simultaneously pulling a string that releases sand onto a light source. As the sand pours, the light dims gradually, darkening the space over time. Each individual interaction triggers a unique temporal chain, yet collectively, the installation becomes a living system of layered, asynchronous rhythms.
By asking participants to slow down, wait, and engage intentionally, the installation creates a temporal space that resists urgency. It transforms time into a shared, evolving landscape—one where rhythm is not enforced, but emergent. In doing so, the work becomes a site for rethinking time not as something we follow, but as something we co-create.
concept prototype: This prototype focused on adapting a servo motor to function like a clock mechanism. Following online resources, I developed an attachment that regulates the flow of sand through a funnel by blocking or allowing its passage. This mechanism introduces a potential for using the sand’s weight to activate the next stage of the installation.
To create the sense of conversation between time and the participant, the installation required a mechanism that responded to human presence. For the installation to be activated, either a motion sensor or a mechanism in which the participant is required to be present for it to trigger needed to be used. The idea behind this mechanism is that time in this installation does not move independently in a fixed autonomous manner, but rather it depends on human attention.
Once the presence is detected, the motor is set in motion which initially serves as a barrier to a tube of marbles. As the motor rotates, a precisely placed opening on the surface of the disk aligns with the tube, allowing the marbles to drop. The dropping of the marbles not only sets off the next sequence of events in the installation, but it also produces a rhythmic ticking sound, reminiscent of a mechanical clock.
The second part of the installation serves as the transition between modern mechanical time to fluid and abstracted time. Through using a seesaw-like mechanism that is both symbolic and functional, the act of the marble dropping is used to trigger sand pouring in the third part of the installation through the rebalancing of the seesaw. As one part of the seesaw is weighed down with the dropping of the marble, the other part lifts and tugs a string attached to a surface with sand resting on top, causing it to pour down. The seesaw acts as the mediator between mechanical and natural, as a back and forth conversation between the two takes place.
The final part of the installation is where the individual time systems manifest into a collective system through the dimming of the lights, collectively manipulating the space. As the individual installations get manipulated at their own pace, the dimming of their lights gradually makes the space darker at different speeds. Through the use of a light source and sand pouring over to gradually dim it down, the final part is the result of people’s interactions with the individual installations collectively making an impact.
Initial prototypes focused on testing the mechanics of the installation, ensuring that the motor’s base could successfully carry the weight of the blocked marbles, while also allowing them to drop one at a time once the marble pipe aligns with the opening on the base.
Once put to the test, the challenge encountered was that due to the weight of the marbles in contrast to the speed of the motor’s rotation, all the marbles drop at once rather than being blocked by the base.
This behavior led to the rethinking of the interaction that the user would have with the installation, shifting from a fully automated mechanical process that would have been triggered by a motion sensor, to a more interactive engagement in which participants would actively place the marbles themselves. By asking participants to drop the marbles manually, the installation creates a more intentional relationship between the viewer and the passage of time.
One key idea was that the marbles would drop one at a time, each individually triggering the seesaw to become imbalanced, causing the sand to pour in small increments.
However, it became clear during testing that a single marble did not carry enough weight to tilt the seesaw enough to pour over the sand. Instead of having each marble trigger a small imbalance, the mechanism required a larger accumulation of marbles before the tilting occurred. To address this discovery, the design was modified so that the marbles would first collect in a bowl-like structure underneath the motor. Once enough marbles had been dropped and the weight accumulated, the seesaw would tip over, causing the marbles to spill off into one side, while simultaneously pulling the string and pouring the sand.
In adjusting the weight distribution, the system was manipulated so that the weight of exactly 12 marbles was needed to tip over the seesaw, mirroring the division of the clock. The redesign added an additional meaning to the installation by requiring more marbles, as the participants would need to wait a longer period of time before any changes happened. Rather than an immediate response, the installation now asks the participant to engage in a longer and more intentional interaction, mirroring the way time can feel stretched or delayed.