Time Capsule

1997

implant live — Eduardo Kac, *Time Capsule*, 1997

Time Capsule is an artwork in which Eduardo Kac implanted a digital microchip in front of sepia-toned photographs live on television and on the web. During the live event, online participants remotely retrieved the microchip content from inside the artist’s body. The live component of the piece was realized on November 11, 1997, in the context of the exhibition "Arte Suporte Computador", curated by Lucas Bambozzi at the cultural center Casa da Rosas, in São Paulo, Brazil. Time Capsule was carried live on the evening newscast of the TV station Canal 21 and on tape by two other TV stations (TV Manchete and TV Cultura). The webscast was streamed by Casa das Rosas. It was in the context of Time Capsule that Kac created the term Bio Art, thus sparking the development of a new artform. Time Capsule is in the collection of the New Art Foundation, Spain.

Click here to read more about Time Capsule

Needle and microchip used in *Time Capsule*, 1997 (detail)

Eduardo Kac implanting time capsule microchip — Eduardo Kac implanting the digital microchip during the live television broadcast on November 11, 1997.