Domain
Data visualization
Theoretical Physics
Kinetic Installation/Interface
Story: Self Questioning About Time
My story begins with a question I have when I was a child...
What is time?
I have this question because it seems I know time inherently. All my understanding is based on what I was told in school. What my parents told me to do. I keep questioning myself to try to jump out of the ordinary perception of time and find out what it really means to me.
Understanding of time
A unit system
I used to think time is a standard unit system. It has second, minute, hour, day..etc. It has it’s own rule of unit. It never stop, can’t go back and only have one direction. And it tells me when to study, and when to go to sleep. In a word, I used to think time is a standard artificial unit to manage our actions. Then I just wonder if time is only the unit as meters or kilogram. Why can’t I define it in my own unit? Just like I have to exchange everything measure in cm to inch in US? So that I can do whatever I want, I can stay up late for gaming because it is not time to go to bed in my standard of time. Then I start to think if time is just a unit system. If we take away that system. It’s that means time doesn’t exist anymore? But I’m still aging and will die eventually even though without that system. I still feel confused about the answer until I watched a documentary about the theory of relativity called “NOVA The Fabric of Cosmos: The illusion of time”
Relative Time-Space
This is really a mind blowing documentary for me to introduce how Einstein understand the time. In the documentary, Einstein’s theory of relativity suggested that “time and space can be no longer considered as separate, they are fused together and called the ‘Time-Space’”. In this way, the relation of time and space is just like the x-axis and y-axis. That means when you move with a certain velocity, you are considered moving in time and space at the same time. When you sit on a chair or being stationary. You are still moving in the time axis. In time space, when you moving both in time and space, your time passage will be different from the stationary status, because the motion is shared by space axis. The result is that the motion through space is affect the passage of time. The time running on the moving object is slower. This astonishing predict of time is called time dilation. And it is already proved by the experiment to take an atomic clock on the jet plane and compare the time with the other atomic clock on the ground. The scientists detective only a few hundred billions of a second difference. The difference is such subtle because the velocity and the distance is not large enough to see a significant change. And that’s also why our life isn’t affected by time dilation on earth.
The significant differences made by the relative time-space
Individual Time-space
Changeable Time Passage
Past,present and future
People don't share the same time passage anymore. Instead, each individual should have their own time passage due to the different motion
Since the time and space are no longer considered as seperat from each other. The motion is shared both on the dimension of time and space. Time can be "squeezed" by the high speed motion.
This is the most abstract concept of the relative time-space. Since the time and space is fused together. Then if we consider the space is exist. All period of time should also be considered as existed. Which means past, present and future are all exist. This is contradict to our traditional understanding that past has gone and future haven't existed.
This artwork illustrate the concept of existance of all time period. As you can see the sesons on the trees with just a glance, that illustrate a certain concept of relative time-space
The Reason
From this story of a self conducted research. I think I just found my passion on the analysis of time. Within this exploration, I’m aware that the time can be understanded in a quiet unusual way. Instead of just be limited on the time keeper in the story. I would like to keep researching about visualize time in variety of way. To create the work that illustrate the connection of time and space. In order to show how this connection differentiate and impact our traditional understanding of time.
ideations
Field Force Visualization
4D photograph
Theoretical physics visual posters
Time keeper redesign
Human time perception experiment
The field force means the a vector field that described a non-contact force acting on a particle at various positions in space. It is a very basic physics concept. This idea originate from the experiment I did in the middle school. I gathered a bunch of iron powder and distribute it disorderly around a powerful electric magnet. Then the power will form a pattern of lines that indicate the magnetic line of force. I was kind of astonish at that time. With this simple experiment. I can perceive an existed thing that I can’t perceive before. In fact, there are so many force field we can’t perceive visually. But they are existed and affect us anytime any where. From this I want to ask if what we visually see defined what is the reality? The answer is definitely negative. So what can really define the term “reality”? It must be something beyond our perception. Force field is one of example. And it should be a good start.
We take photos to catch several important moment. This important moment always is meaningful for us. So that this simple work in 2D therefore have another dimension. Our emotion. It is more than just a graph. It is a memory, a story, or a record of a certain feeling that we may never have in the rest of our life. Time is considered as the 4th dimension in physics. And I kind of finding there is some relationship between it and the photography. I consider photography is a snapshot on the dimension of time. It a certain spot on the time. It seems like time is “frozen” as we take the photography. What will it look like if we make the time also exist in the stationary photography? What will it looks like? Can it affect our emotion on the photography?
The theory of relativity is abstract to understand. How motion affect the time is really different from people’s traditional understanding of time. Find a good illustration of the relationship between time-space and motion.
According to my previous observation to the timekeeper. They all crafted based on the understanding of the absolute time space. Which means time and space are separated and doesn’t affect each other. Time itself is an unchangeable being. Everybody’s time passage are fixed. However, Einstein’s special theory of relativity proved that it is not true. Time can be squeezed by the high speed motion. So why there is no timekeeper crafted base on the relative time space? What it should look like and how it will change our way of understanding time?
Some times I find time goes so slow, while sometimes I feel time going so fast(while I was gaming). The watch nowadays are so good about precisely report time. They can’t be wrong about calculation. But why we still “feel” time so differently? Although we have watch, we still percept time by ourselves passively. I want to visualize different people’s perception of time according to different actions. The participants will do the different actions in a same duration. Then I will let them press a button to describe how long they thing the duration is. The longer they pressed, the longer duration they think they have. I’m willing to see the difference.