Alicia Eggert sculpts neon, steel, and time to make art that inspires awe at the finite nature of human life within a seemingly infinite universe. In September 02022, Alicia brought This Present Moment, a sculpture adapting the words of Stewart Brand, the co-founder of The Long Now Foundation and creator of the Whole Earth Catalog, to Mount Washington. The neon sign was re-assembled among the mountain’s bristlecone pine trees (Pinus longaeva), some of the longest-lived trees in the world.
Now, we’re excited to share two original videos produced by Long Now’s video team that trace the sign’s journey to the mountaintop and explore the power art has in shaping the way we think about time. In these short pieces, the image of the sign amongst ancient trees serves as a provocation towards long-term thinking. In the words of Long Now Research Fellow Jonathon Keats, the juxtaposition of ancient landscape and neon sign “establishes a literal relationship between the present moment and the long term, and physically models the essential simultaneity of multiple time scales.”
The Unimaginable Future: Alicia Eggert & Long Now
8 minutes, 02022 Edited and directed by Justin Oliphant
This Present Moment at 11,000 Feet
5 minutes, 02022 Edited and directed by Shannon Breen
