Embodiment of Digital Time

Helga Schmid Western society is often described as ‘instant network
society’ or ‘digital society’, suffering from increasing time
pressure, hurriedness and the scarcity of time. But what drives our
temporal existence? During childhood, we encode the specific
cultural temporality of our societal environment, almost like
another sense; the sense of time becomes an unquestioned fact, part
of our personality, and understanding of the world.
Unintentionally, we embody the rhythm and speed of digital life.
However, the natural rhythmicity of the human biological clock
conflicts with such contemporary algorithmic structures and
inhumane rhythms. My research and design practice investigates an
understanding and reactivation of bodily rhythms. I propose a new
perceptions of time through the application of uchronia — a
term derived from the Greek word ou-chronos meaning ‘ no time ’ or
‘ non-time’, and from utopia, from the Greek ou-topos. 
It investigates uchronia as temporal utopia and in the way it
generates insights about our knowledge of contemporary temporality.
I investigate practical work which challenges thought patterns
regarding the temporal structure of contemporary life, in which
participants explore alternative time-givers or Zeitgeber, in order
to think outside the boundaries of clocks and calendars. I aim to
stimulate a public discussion about imposed external time versus
internal bodily rhythms. By providing a broadened definition of
uchronianism, I establish uchronia as a platform for critical
thought and debate on the contemporary time crisis, with
chronodesign as a practical design initiative.