In my own time
2007, HDV 21’ minutes

In my own time is a film-essay drawing together perceptions of time from different cultural, philosophical and scientific viewpoints. The film explores the connection between the concept of one’s self as a being in time and the sense of one’s life as a narrative. Episodes revealing how ancient societies regarded time and space in relation to direct experience – encapsulated in the phrase ‘as long as it takes to milk a cow’ – are shown alongside treatments of Einstein’s theories, ideas about civil timekeeping and the possibility of time travel. Influenced by 19th-century scientific demonstrations, the artist explores these ideas through her own actions and activities. However the work is as much involved with the qualities and structures of film-making as it is with science. Events in the film oscillate between fact and fiction, between documentary and cinematic illusion.

Grace Weir in conversation with Jane Garvey, BBC Radio 4

Essays:
Janna Levin, Time Moves On
Francis McKee, Cherry Blossom Time

Curated by Bridget Ashley-Miller and Hannah Redler, Science Museum Art Projects, London, 2007