THE FLOW OF TIME_ Grand Seiko #MDW18

Published on: 5 years agoAuthor: Teo Sandigliano

For the first time at Fuorisalone, Seiko Watch Corporation participated with its luxury watch brand Grand Seiko and its The Flow of Time exhibition, showcasing two installations featuring Grand Seiko’s Spring Drive movement, the company’s unique and innovative mechanism characterized by high precision and a long power reserve.

“With our artistic installation we would like to transmit, through a sensory experience that involves the five senses, the vision of the world that we have included in our watch brand, Grand Seiko.” Seiko Watch Corporation CEO, Shinji Hattori.

The theme of the exhibition was interpreted by two japanese artists, Satoshi Yoshiizumy (TAKT PROJECT) and Shingo Abe, each one expressing the essence of Spring Drive in an installation that invites the visitors to think about and explore the innovation that this mechanism represents.

TAKT PROJECT realized “Approach to TIME”, an artistic installation that made you perceive the transience of time. Twelve acrylic objects of different shapes were arranged in the space and parts of the Spring Drive watch movement was sealed inside of them. Having a look inside the objects, small twinkling parts and framed scenery were merged together. The small lights in transparent objects implied the existence of small electrical charges generated by the components themselves in silence.

Shingo Abe presented Kizamu/Nagareru, a visual work that aimed to compare the mix of multiple and long exposure to the ultimate Spring Drive movement. The contrast between the “ticking time” and “flowing time” is essential to understand his approach. He says – “The trail of the sun draws an arch in the sky; the history of timepieces began by “ticking” this natural arching “movement” which has always been continuous. Time transformed from what used to “flow” to something that “ticks.” In their pursuit for better performance, watches demonstrated a higher precision with the “ticking” of time.”

Images by Masayuki Hayashi and Daisuke Ohki