History and future are specters of the present. Time and sense of time have an important impact on human consciousness. We think of time in the self-evident conception of cause and effect in such a way that the past appears inalterable, while the future seems influenceable by the present. Memories converge in the idea of an objective time and are perceived as continuity and security. The much-discussed concept of deep time, which transcends human activity, opens the door to visions of new worlds and also alters the future: Will the quality of the Now, the continuous moment, become the narrative of the deep future?

Nicole Six and Paul Petritsch follow the quality of the moment. They approach the present through sensuous experience, an attitude of feeling (Jean-Luc Nancy), and address, at the core, questions concerning the reconstruction of traditions, body memory, and notation.

They provoke states of consciousness in an attempt to animate “inscribed” time and seemingly inanimate Nature. Trancelike states and non-written knowledge, like the quipu, a knotted string object used by the Incas, serve as their time machines. Quipus were made of animal hair dyed various colors and consisted of speculatively 95 syllables. They were used by indigenous peoples to record inventory, tax, and narrative information.

In the truest sense of the word the quipu ties together such disciplines as sociology, art history, history of technology, and contemporary history.