EL TIEMPO
130x195cm
Óleo Sobre lienzo

Time
What is time?

It is the thread that sequences events or occurrences. In this work, time is addressed from three different perspectives:
1. Time: Taking the origin of the universe as a starting point.
2. Time: As a sequence of events.
3. Time: From the mind of an individual.

1. Time: From the Origins of the Universe

The beginning of the universe, meaning the initial point where matter, space, and time were formed. According to the Big Bang theory, the universe began approximately 13.8 billion years ago. The universe, initially concentrated into an infinitely small point containing all matter, exploded and then began cooling as it expanded. Before this moment, nothing existed, not even time.

At the top of the painting, the mentioned explosion that originated the universe is depicted. Infinite time, or perhaps not so infinite
In the center of the painting, there is a chessboard, symbolizing a reflection on the infinity of the concept of time. Chess could be defined as finite, as it is played on a board with 8 rows and
8 columns where 16 pieces from each side face off in a battle with the sole objective of defeating the opponent’s king. However, in each game, we can observe infinity. Each game is unique and unrepeatable. After both sides have made their move, there are 400 possible positions to continue. After the second turn, this number grows exponentially to 197,742 possible games. After the tenth move, there are 165 trillion and a half different games. But if we continue, the number grows to an astonishing figure of 1 followed by 100,000 zeros… This number surpasses the total number of atoms in the universe, so one could consider that chess approaches the concept of infinity.

The concept of infinity: What was before the Big Bang?

We can use the known physical laws of nature to calculate in detail the characteristics of the universe in the past, in an initial state of extreme density and temperature. However, if we extrapolate these known laws of physics beyond their valid point, we encounter a singularity, that is, a point we can approach but never reach. Therefore, if we imagine the development of

the universe in reverse, going back in time, the universe becomes smaller and smaller, but the amount of matter remains the same, so the density increases until we reach the point where time equals 0 (T=0) and the density of matter and energy becomes infinite.

Exceeding Planck’s density (this unit is enormous, equivalent to approximately 10 to the 23 solar masses compressed into the space of a single atomic nucleus), we reach a unit of Planck time (Planck time or chronon is a unit of time considered the smallest measurable interval. In cosmology, Planck time represents the smallest instant at which the laws of physics could be used to study the nature and evolution of the universe). After the Big Bang, the density of the universe was approximately one Planck density unit.

This means that the equations fail because mathematically, it is impossible to deal with infinite numbers, and the process cannot be explained. Hence, current physics has no explanation of what happened before the Big Bang, as there was no time before the beginning of time.

In 1955, British physicist John Archibald Wheeler proposed the «quantum foam theory» to somehow describe what happens at this stage. At 10^-35 meters, space-time becomes foamy, like a turbulent sea filled with virtual particles that emerge and disappear into nothingness at dizzying speeds.

Theoretically, at this scale, all quantum effects would be extremely intense, causing space-time not only to curve but to twist in the most bizarre ways.

One of the things I wanted to highlight in the work is the perspective of time from the age of the universe, or, in comparison, the tiny sensation of the short lifespan of an individual.

Another aspect of time to highlight is its relativity, as Einstein explained in his well-known theory. The theory of relativity tells us that time is relative and largely depends on the observer’s position. E=mc² (In the formula painted in the work, the letters appear newer and shinier or older and rustier depending on the position).

In the center of the painting, there is a being traveling through space-time. We can observe how his body deforms due to an effect called «spaghettification,» which is suggested by the immense density of black holes. Black holes are phenomena that need to be highlighted in a work about time, in the section on physics and science, as they are capable of deforming space-time, breaking traditional mental schemes of the human mind.

Any body approaching the event horizon, the gravitational pull zone of a black hole, will be attracted with such force that it is capable of stretching both mass and time, deforming them.

On the right side of the painting, the gravitational force of a singularity or black hole is depicted. (A black hole forms when a large star burns out all its fuel and explodes; this is known as a supernova. What remains collapses into a tremendously compact object with immense density, attracting everything, even light, which is why they appear as dark masses.)

2. Time: As a Sequence of Events

The sequentiality of moments, one after another.

The only way to be aware of time is by looking at the past. In the lower right part of the painting, we can see a being observing his time sequence by looking back (the only way to be aware of the sequentiality of time).

Measuring something is nothing more than defining a measurement pattern (completely conventional, whichever we choose) and seeing how many times it repeats. That’s all there is to it. And a measurement mechanism will be effective if it can maintain precision in each repetition it measures. A quartz clock simply oscillates at a very regular frequency, so each repetition is the same as the next. A bad clock is one that measures a second with a different duration each time. Then it will lose or gain time, as often happens to us. And what measurement pattern have we conventionally chosen for time? The key is that this pattern must be as exact and immutable as possible.

A second, defined as the duration of 9,192,631,770 oscillations of the radiation emitted during the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the cesium-133 atom at zero Kelvin, is the time unit in the International System of Units and the smallest unit we use in our daily lives.

3. Time: From the Mind of an Individual

Despite the popularity of expressions like “living in the present” or “enjoying the here and now,” the truth is that there is no such thing as the present or the now. The human brain takes approximately 80 milliseconds to perceive and interpret any event. In other words, what we perceive as “now” actually happened 80 milliseconds ago. Humans live in the past, even
though the delay is minimal.

Another reflection in the work is on how fleeting life is. Human life is very short, with an average life expectancy of around 83 years.

Thus, one of humanity’s greatest fears is death, or the anxiety about the end of one’s existence
(wanting to stop time). In the center of the work, the being traveling through time tries to stop

it by grabbing the Foucault pendulum (a pendulum that measures time through the Earth’s rotation). In the pendulum, my reflection appears, showing an expression of panic as I reflect on the immediacy of the end of my life while I paint this work.

But there is a living being that is the longest-lived on Earth, symbolizing eternity or immortality: the jellyfish Turritopsis dohrnii, also known as the immortal jellyfish. It is the only living being capable of going back in time, that is, reverting from a developed adult state to an earlier, embryonic state.

The end of time, of life, of everything!

According to science, time has what is called an entropic direction. The second law of thermodynamics: entropy.
The universe expands, and time moves forward, and the opposite is unlikely. It will continue
this way until it reaches a point of equilibrium.

That is, time will stop and cease to exist when the universe reaches a state where everything has the same temperature. Life, movement, and time will end.

For this reason, the end of time appears in the painting in the lower right corner as the figure of zero degrees Celsius.