Past nor Present

Past nor Present (2000–2019) is a media-based long-term project exploring the visualization of work rhythms in the digital age. Over two decades, Carsten Becker archived his daily work activities as datasets – a practice of self-measurement oscillating between productive time regimes and existential reflection. The installation visualizes this data as pulsating dots on a vertically positioned screen: each dot's radius corresponds to the duration of the workday, while colorless intervals mark phases of inactivity. A synchronized low tone makes duration physically perceptible. In the bottom right corner, dates run in fast-forward – a condensed time stream that transforms work into an auditory-visual dispositif. Becker's work reflects forms of control, rhythmization, and self-optimization produced by digital capitalism and biopolitical logics.