We are Time is an art series investigating the possibility that time is identical with existence. Beginning with generative artworks and extending into other forms, the series examines time not as a condition in which existence unfolds, but as existence itself.
Developed through an ongoing inquiry into the nature of time, reality, and consciousness, the series engages with ideas from contemporary physics and philosophy, including relativity, the block universe theory (eternalism), process philosophy, phenomenology, metaphysics, and philosophical theories of consciousness. Rather than illustrating these frameworks, the works use them as points of departure, testing their implications, limitations, and possible intersections through artistic form.
Across different media, visual systems, generative structures, and material processes become methods of investigation rather than representation. Each work functions as an experiment, exploring questions of continuity, multiplicity, perception, and the relationship between static structure and lived temporal experience. As the series evolves, it remains open to revising its own inquiry in response to new philosophical, scientific, and artistic discoveries.
Figure 1. Three-minute documentation of We are Time, generative artwork.
This video presents a three-minute recorded segment of the generative system. The live work operates in real time at full resolution. This fixed 1080p recording differs in duration, timing precision, and visual fidelity. The canonical presentation of the work is hosted on the artist's website.
The generative artworks mark the beginning of the We are Time series.
Each work presents a grid of colored circles connected by a continuously generated line. The circles represent already existing scenes. Each horizontal row represents parallel possibilities, while the progression from one row to the next represents an ordered sequence of scenes. During each cycle, the system generates one possible trajectory by selecting and connecting a single circle from each row, producing one of many possible paths through the fixed structure.
Within the conceptual framework of the series, the continuously generated trajectory investigates the possibility that time and individual existence are identical. Rather than depicting an individual moving through an external dimension called time, the work asks whether an individual existence may itself be understood as time. In this sense, the generated trajectory investigates the possibility that time, individual existence, and “we” are one and the same. The title We are Time refers to this possibility.
Different configurations explore variations in the scale, organization, and behavior of the system while preserving its underlying conceptual structure.
The generative works engage with ideas from relativity, eternalism and the block universe, interpretations of quantum mechanics such as the Many-Worlds interpretation, metaphysics, process philosophy, phenomenology, and philosophical theories of consciousness. The ordered structure of scenes resonates with the coexistence of moments associated with the block universe, while the alternatives within each row introduce a separate question of multiple possibilities. The continuously generated trajectory brings these structures together, investigating whether temporal continuity may arise not from movement through an external time, but from existence itself.
Rather than illustrating any single theory, the works use generative systems to investigate where these philosophical and scientific perspectives converge, diverge, and leave open questions.
The individual generative works can be accessed through the links below.
* For desktop users: After entering a work, press the Enter key to toggle fullscreen mode.
Figure 2. Visualization of a possible monitor-based presentation of We are Time in an exhibition setting.
Figure 3. Visualization of a possible projection-based presentation of We are Time in an exhibition setting.