At the center of Time Out of Time is a working clepsydra—an ancient form of timekeeping whose name comes from the Greek for “water thief.”

The clepsydra was the technological link between the sundial and the pendulum clock and served as humanity’s most accurate form of timekeeping for nearly 3,000 years. The oldest known water clock is the Clepsydra of Karnak, which dates to 1400 BCE in Egypt. This simple form of outflow water clock is what inspired this sculpture and I love the idea of time made manifest as water.

In the installation Eternity Ceased Gradually, water drips onto boulders of coal, marking the passage of time while activating the coal to produce a faint crackling sound—the sound of the present moment falling onto millions of years of accumulated time.

During the course of the exhibition the sculpture will change—the clepsydra rotates to activate different stones on different days. After the stones have been activated, over time the salty water beneath them will precipitate out onto the surface of the coal.