Arrow of Time -
Carroll argues that the creation of the universe and "arrow of time" set the stage of day to day life. Researchers over the past decade have come to the conclusion that the universe is forever expanding and cooling (whereas before it was believed that the universe would eventually collapse upon itself). This one-way pattern is like an arrow in that it continuously goes in one direction and cannot be stopped once it has started. Examples of this range from the Big Bang to the aging of living things.
The two aspects of time are change and repetition. The first correlates with the arrow of time, and the latter is more quantitative. Repetition is predictable and is used to measure time. Before the invention of the clock, astronomical patterns could be used to measure the passage of time. Repetitive patterns range from the swinging of a pendulum to a person's heartbeat at rest, and the two can be compared to have a similar consistency.
Quick and the Dead -
In Giuseppe Penone's performance piece, Rovesciare i propi occbi, the artist walked around the streets of Turin, Italy wearing reflective contacts that replaced his irises. In English, the title translates "to reverse one's eyes." Visual artists of the 1960s were then intrigued with the science of topology popularized by mathematician Anthony Phillips' article in Scientific American. In it, Phillips explains the seemingly-impossible science of turning a hypothetical sphere completely inside-out without breaking it. Penone's piece explores time in the context of an alternate dimension made visible between himself and the audience on his eyeballs. I find Penone's idea not one aesthetically pleasing, but a genius way of applying such an abstract subject to a living tangible piece.
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