Zeitgefühl

Eine Untersuchung immersiver Technologien im Kontext der Wahrnehmung von Zeit

Enya Alma Obert

September 2024

Folkwang Universität der Künste Essen

Description

‘Zeitgefühl’ explores the perception of time, finiteness, and immersion. One first enters a physical space (CAVE) that makes the flow of time tangible. This antechamber prepares the transition into another reality — one in which time appears finite, personal, and malleable. In the VR environment, perception is expanded: every ten seconds, I leave an imprint. After one minute, the space is filled with sculptural ‘time echoes’, images of my past, which then dissolve into nothingness.

The concept of the work draws on a quote by Jorge Luis Borges, who expresses the essence of our existence with ‘[Time] is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire’. Borges reflects on infinite life and the meaning of finiteness.

The installation is a direct, immersive experience where reality and digitality merge. Time stretches, shifts, stands still. The space thus becomes a place of reflection.