Einstein determined that time is relative. Author, conceptual artist, experimental philosopher Jonathon Keats determined that it would be a relatively good idea to tell time by tracking the flow of rivers and their meanders.

Keats has already tried to create a clock and calendar by measuring the growth of the world’s oldest trees – Bristlecone pines. He has also messed with time (and photography) by creating a camera that takes a photo over an exposure time of one thousand years. He also built his time-telling chops by writing for Robb Report Watch Collector in which he regularly profiled absurdly expensive timepieces for the uberwealthy. So, with those credentials, it seems Einstein has nothing on Keats when it comes to time keeping, right?

Bristlecone pines…or nature’s timepieces? | Source: Wikimedia commons

It was Keats’s River Time idea and the related topic of meandering that led me to write Follow the Meander (which is about creativity not river-run Swiss watches). It is what’s led me, now, to attempt to get Keats’s River Time project launched in Atlanta.

Earlier this year, Keats launched Alaska River Time with the Anchorage Museum. Keats describes it like this, “Alaska River Time engages a network of glacial and spring rivers to regulate a new kind of clock, which speeds up and slows down with the waters. The clock can be used to recalibrate all aspects of life from work schedules to personal relationships.”

To launch the initiative, the Anchorage Museum held a chess match in which the game timer was controlled by the flow of nearby rivers. They invited a local quartet to perform Vivaldi's Four Seasons, with different movements set to the tempo of different Alaskan rivers. Keats is lobbying the Anchorage Assembly to proclaim River Time as an official local time-keeping option.

About the time that glacial melt was metering the movement of pawns and rooks across an Anchorage chess board, the Chattahoochee RiverLands project was completing its strategic assessment of how to improve public interaction with the big brown river that pulses near Atlanta. What better way to raise attention for a program meant to champion a major river than to link it to time? So, I connected Keats to the RiverLands folks and they – at least – didn’t laugh in his face. Since, we’ve engaged with several other smart arts leaders in Atlanta to see if we can create an alliance to bring River Time to Atlanta.

The last project I did like this with Keats landed a feature article in Outside Magazine, coverage in Wired, the Atlanta Journal Constitution and also a successful documentary (mockumentary?) film. It’s a long shot but maybe River Time will come to ATL in time to coincide with the launch of Follow the Meander? Time is ticking…fast…or slow…I’m no longer sure which.

p.s. If you think I’m making this up, check out these sites:

My last project with Keats:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlfLm4ny1oA

A bit about Keats’s 1000-year camera:

https://bit.ly/3kEIyza

Here's a link to the Alaska River Time website:

http://alaskarivertime.org

You may also enjoy this short video documentary about the first phase of Alaska River Time:

http://alaskarivertime.org/Observations#galleryV-5

And here's some more information about Chattahoochee RiverLands:

https://chattahoocheeriverlands.com/

Their report is especially informative: