61/60
2015 – ONGOING
LIFE-LONG PERFORMATIVE ACTION
VIDEO + PHOTOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTATION
CYMBAL ARCHIVE
The ‘leap-second’ is the quantum of time irregularly added to our global clock — keeping our lives in-sync with the stars. These small corrections overcome the inherent contradictions between the specificity and precision of atomic time-keeping and the irregularity of the Earth’s own physical movement — a compensation for our intransigent relationship with the sun.
61/60 has been designed to commemorate the addition of each leap second within Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) with a one-second performative action coincident with its introduction. Each performance is staged with a new pair of cymbals that are only struck once, then ‘retired’ post-performance — holding the resonance of each second ad infinitum.
The first iteration of this series, 61/60 (026), was staged in Times Square, New York, (USA) coincident with the introduction of the 26th leap-second on June 30, 2015, at precisely 19:59:60 EDT (23:59:60 UTC). The second iteration 61/60 (027) was staged at Lick Observatory, Mount Hamilton, California (USA), concurrent with the introduction of the 27th leap-second on December 31, 2016 at precisely 15:59:60 PST (23:59:60 UTC).
All subsequent 61/60 performances are subject to the rulings of the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) — the agency that regulates the use of leap-seconds. 61/60 is, therefore, as much a conscious act of waiting as a physical action, and can be staged only when the Earth tarries sufficiently in its orbit. It is the intention for this performance will occur for as a life-long act, becoming simultaneously the shortest and longest action that I will undertake.