Click the image to play a view of the video “On the nature of time” installed at Karsh-Masson Gallery in Canada.

On the nature of time

In 1922, Albert Einstein – a scientist – and Henri Bergson – a philosopher – were invited to travel to Paris by the Société de philosophie in order to discuss the concept of Time. 

Audiences gathered from across Europe to witness Einstein, whose Theory of Relativity had recently changed how humans thought of Time, debate Bergson, who was not only considered the leading voice on Time at the turn of the century but also a vocal objector to the Theory of Relativity. Although Einstein only spoke sparingly during that evening, he was considered the winner with a decisive phrase – “The time of the philosophers does not exist.” Bergson’s career never recovered, and many academics point to the debate with Einstein as the moment the world saw Time through a scientific lens rather than a philosophical one.

One hundred years later, Paluzzi reexamines this debate between Einstein and Bergson in order to see if we have learned anything more about Time. Using deep-fake technology, Paluzzi places himself behind the faces of Einstein and Bergson, adding voice to the original debate while drawing from texts both men published after their debate. 

The two-channel video projection system presents two faces – one Einstein and one Bergson – on top of each other. In addition, the two videos play independently, meaning that they are not in sync, so at any given moment, Einstein and Bergson could speak concurrently while other times speak simultaneously. 

By deconstructing debate mechanisms, On the nature of time is not meant to be a reenactment of the original debate but rather present a visual interpretation of Time itself as seen through the reanimated eyes of Einstein and Bergson.