Time is a universal issue: it’s part of our lives. But time can also raise questions. Why, for instance, does one hour seems to last longer than another? In the school environment, objective time (on the clock) as well as subjective time (how we perceive it), have a strong presence: everything is ruled by the clock. For this reason I have aimed at developing a ‘conversation piece’ that can initiate thoughts and discussions about measuring and representing time. It's a device that can learn how the hours are divided on a specific location, like the classroom. A ‘living’ presence that acquires knowledge among children who are doing exactly that, at the same time.

The development of the idea, the software, the shape, and ultimately the object itself and the publication took Koert van Mensvoort, Stijn Belle and myself from the beginning of 2004 until the end of 2008, a few years longer than expected.