Machine for Taking Time (Boul. Saint-Laurent) (2006-2007) was commissioned by the Daniel Langlois Foundation as part of its tenth anniversary celebrations. It was on display for public viewing in the lobby of the Ex-Centris complex in Montreal, until April 2009.

Two surveillance cameras positioned for more than a year on the Ex-Centris roof captured images of the area surrounding the complex and stored these images on a computer disc. The artist's software edits the shots and merges the images seamlessly together but in a random time sequence. In the space of a few seconds, we pass from spring to autumn or from summer to the end of winter. People and cars appear and disappear as do the leaves in the trees; the light changes in an unsettling manner. As the title suggests, Machine for Taking Time is much more than a machine to record time; it is a dream machine. Here, the present does not tick away with the seconds on the clock; it is instead a moment where images of the past are fused into a reconstructed memory. From the deconstruction of time is built a present where expectation is enriched with illusion.

More informations: David Rokeby, Machine for Taking Time: Documentary Collection

J.G. © FDL 2007