Carla Cardinaletti

A huge neon hour glass glows on the side of the EURAC tower overlooking the road. However, instead of the expected grains of sand running through its neck, there are ever changing light signals, creating the illusion of the inexorable passing of time.

Time is the seed money given to each one of us at birth. To make sensible and efficient use of this has become the categorical imperative of our times. We are constantly striving, as never before, to rationalise our use of time and yet all we can do is to watch it run away from us. The artist Carla Cadinaletti worked with Sara Boscolo from the EURAC Institute for Public Management, which has a brief for updating public administration, to develop materials for the exhibition entitled Capitale Initiale (“Starting Capital”, or “Seed Money”). This ever “moving” but in reality only “virtual” hour glass, reminding us of the transience of life, is contrasted with a “genuine” sand glass inside the building. This one is filled with blue granules, but it is lying on its side on a pedestal. Time is standing still. In this position, the sand glass is reminiscent of the Moebius strip, a band with only one side, or the symbol ∞ signifying infinity.