The dimensions of time that extend beyond humans can only ever be grasped in fragments. We cannot fully comprehend the billions of years of Earth’s history that preceded the emergence of humankind, nor the vast duration of our universe, or even the epochs that may lie before or after it, just as the concept of infinity is well beyond our understanding.

Yasuhiro Chida’s Space of Moment is rooted in the idea of the possibility of infinity and the challenge of making perceptible the domain of time that is unfathomable for the human mind. Rather than stretching or extending time, the artist attempts instead to compress it to a scale so minuscule that it escapes human perception. The artist hypothesises that slicing the moment into infinitesimal fragments and disrupting our habitual sense of temporality may bring us closer to a different kind of spatial experience. “When time ceases to exist, only space remains,” he says.

More than twenty years after its debut at Chida’s first solo exhibition, Space of Moment is now on display for the second time ever – an improved version, no less. Entering the installation’s immersive space, we see water droplets floating in mid-air. It is as though time has stopped: the multitude of droplets suspended in the act of falling allows us to perceive the space that fills the room.

Chida’s installation relies on the so-called persistence of vision, i.e. the human eye’s tendency to retain a visual impression for 0.1 seconds after it has disappeared. Images that flash at a slower rate are perceived as separate still images, while those in more rapid succession appear as motion. By the precise synchronisation of stroboscopic light illuminating the water with the vibration of the entire structure, liquid water is frozen in the moment.

At the heart of Chida’s artistic practice lie the potential uses of light as material, the incorporation of intangible (liquid, porous, etc.) substances, and the exploration of dimensions that remain beyond reach to human perception. Bringing into play the glints of light sparkling on the surface of the water, the installation on display here seeks to render visible dimensions of space and time that lie beyond the range of human perception.

(Borbála Szalai)