Timebenders

A Triadic Sonic Cartography of Time - Three Timebenders

TIMEBENDERS unites three distinct yet deeply interwoven artistic practices that together build a nuanced, sensorially rich exploration of time. These artists do not merely illustrate chronoception—they dissect, perform, and recompose time itself through sound, gesture, space, and rhythm. Their contributions are not isolated moments, but interdependent layers in a collectively expanded perception of temporal experience.

With:
Arnold Dreyblatt
Jan Jelinek
Seiji Morimoto & Kyoco Taniyama

TIMEBENDERS (Upon invitation from Olafur Eliasson and Klaus Biesenbach for Festival of Future Nows, 2025 at Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin)

TIMEBENDERS is a series of three live performances and concerts that delve into the perception of time through contemporary sound and music. If time is relative, how can sound and music act as agents that alter our chronoception—the way we experience time?

During the Covid-19 pandemic, we collectively experienced a distortion in our perception of
time. At first, time felt slow and drawn out;
later, it seemed to accelerate unpredictably.
This shift revealed how our internal sense of
time does not always align with external measurements such as calendars and clocks. TIMEBENDERS expands on this phenomenon through sonic and musical explorations, offering audiences a chance to experience shifts in temporal perception in real time.

The series is has its cues in traditions that perceive time not as linear, but relational, cyclical, and lived. It draws from the Japanese concept of Ma—the meaningful pause or interval that shapes rhythm—and the Turkish Sufi practice of dhikr, which uses rhythmic repetition to induce different states. These ideas are reinterpreted through sonic practices such as drone, glitch, loop, silence, and spatial sound design, creating a sensory and somatic approach to time.

Each event in the series presents artists, composers, and sound experts who transform contrasting distortions of perceptual time into structured musical and sonic forms. Through the use of loops, silence, high-paced rhythms, and immersive soundscapes, the participating artists explore the elasticity of time, inviting audiences to experience altered states of temporal awareness.

Neuroscience provides insights into how music creates alternative temporal dimensions. Research suggests that during intense musical engagement, activity in the prefrontal cortex—responsible for introspection—diminishes, shifting the focus to sensory processing. This can result in a selfless, Zen-like state where time appears to suspend or flow differently. As neuroscientist Ilan Goldberg describes, "the term ‘losing yourself’ receives here a clear neuronal correlate.”

Throughout the event series, performances will highlight how sound and music can suspend, accelerate, or fragment our experience of time. Each artist will bring a unique approach, offering different methodologies to bend, reshape, and challenge our perception of time through listening. Whether through drone compositions, glitch aesthetics, or spatial sound manipulations, TIMEBENDERS aims to provide a profound auditory journey—one that shifts our awareness of time itself.