Time is what you can measure with a clock. A child, a city, a love, death... these are clocks. One cannot measure that which we consider past, present, future. People, being at fate's mercy, interpret the period of time in which they decide as 'the present'. They want this period to be long. This is the source of illusion. "The patent text and the sketches prove that the brothers Lumière have solved this problem. Figure 1 is a front view, figure 2 is a cross-section of the plane perpendicular to the plane of 1. The mechanism enclosed in the case is driven by a single shaft. On the shaft is an eccentric disc which moves the vertical slide piece to and fro
that slides in the guides. A horizontal blade adjoins the slide, which forms a hinge at one end and at the other end carries two pins which penetrate the partition in two places. On top of the device, a box contains the perforated strip which runs down behind the partition. The regular perforation of the strip's edges can be crossed by the pins. The strip is drawn down by the pins which lift in a rising movement to keep it in position..."
Everything is ready. The modern magic of the darkened halls begins.
(
Alexander Kluge - O Ataque do Presente Contra o Restante do Tempo)