Chrono-Shredder calendar

Wall clock, calendar and mortality reminder all wrapped up in one odd work of (post)modern art. The so-called ‘Chrono Shredder’ provides a palpable (or pulp-able?) physical reminder that all things are temporary, and we can never wind back time in this world. The artist fittingly describes it as a “poetic time machine.”

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Chrono-Shredder calendar poetic time machine

Created by Susanna Hetrich, the simple red box shreds each day’s calendar page as it passes, and leaves the tangled paper strands to curl, bunch and pile up on the floor in a messy heap. This fits right in the middle of her portfolio of creative work, which ranges from abstract installation artworks to apparel and photography.

Chrono-Shredder calendar shreds

She considers the calendar a kind of performance art piece (albeit robotic rather than human in nature), and it is never stationary: each day slowly shreds in realtime so that minute changes are visible even on an hourly or second-to-second basis if one is watching closely. While not yet for sale, she does have plans to release a limited-edition version at some time in the future.

Chrono-Shredder calendar time machine

More from the artist

“Chrono-shredder is a poetic time machine that reminds us of the momentariness of our life time. Every single day is slowly shredded as time passes by. All that time that is irreversibly lost, receives a tangible presence in the form of shredded paper. As the minutes tick by, the tattered remains of the past pile up under the device. One day is shredded within 24 hours. A shredding pulse is activated very 3 minutes. The device auto-synchronizes at midnight each day. Once started, the Chrono-Shredder automatically and continously shreds the days as time goes by.”