THE TIME MACHINE
2010, HD video
12 minutes, color/sound
“The Time Machine” explores the life-world of a migrant watchmaker in Grand Central Terminal. Isolated and peripheral to the main terminal, his quiet workshop becomes an indirect gateway to exploring the larger, layered rhythms of Grand Central, with its iconic clock and star-filled ceiling. These layers of resonance find their reflection in the inner mechanics of his work. Centered around the deconstruction and reconstruction of a single wristwatch—powered not by battery but by the motion of its owner’s body—the project examines both the different ways we conceptualize and understand time and the ways in which capitalism and globalization have made our experience of these simultaneous temporalities feel increasingly at odds. Set within this iconic space of public transport, the film asks questions about the value of slowness and space for contemplation within the frenetic pace of a globalized transit system.