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As Albert Einstein said, “the only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.” Time ensures that all things constantly change. Sometimes for better. Sometimes for worse. In our initial time, we become stronger, smarter, and more effective. Later, we become weaker, slower, and increasingly incapable.

After enough time, our brains deteriorate. We begin to forget. We find it difficult to make connections. The familiar becomes foreign and the laws of physics, society, and the self begin to fade.

With time, we also lose our grasp on time, our ability to read it, and our ability to write it. Each clock face in this collection was drawn by someone experiencing some loss of the function of their brain due to the passing of time. To better understand their particular state of being, participants were provided empty circles and asked to place the numbers and draw the clock’s hands to read five after six.

Each hand-drawn clock serves as a self-portrait of the author’s brain at a moment in time. When viewed sequentially, the clocks tell the story of the passing of time.