Our new relationships towards space in regards to time is one of the major mutations initiated by digital networks. This mutation is creating new socio-cultural time frontiers, drawn by the sun (and languages ;- ). I have regrouped some of my thoughts about the subject in this article that was published in October 2012 by Digital Arti : A question of time. Here is a short excerpt :
The speed of an Internet data exchange is measured in thousands of kilometers per millisecond. The distance that separates us from a source of digital information on a computer, wherever it may be, has vanished. Nevertheless, during a two-way exchange of information between humans instead of machines, each person’s biological clock influences her experience and her capacity to interpret the exchanged information. Now that synchronous (live) interactions are increasingly present in our digital lifestyles, we can legitimately ask: When are you?
(…)
The digital network is global and synchronized. Humans, however, are local and cyclical. The geographical position of each place and its participants is necessarily linked to a culture, a language and a local solar time. In the case of public and cultural spaces, each has its own history and community. A better knowledge of the human and social biorhythms—the “here” and “now”—of those with whom we wish to connect is just as important as the quality of bandwidth and code.
Also on the same subject, a video of a presentation (in french) I did in June 2012 at the SAT, initiated within the Metalab Telepresence research track.
U.R.WEN? | VOUS ÊTES QUAND? from Society for Arts and Technology on Vimeo.