One Thousandth of a Millionth of a Millionth of a Second

Tacita Dean’s 2014 Berlin Biennale project 10 to the 21 consisted of four parts: the two films Nanospoke and Target Area Petawatt;  the photogravure diptych In Pursuit of Transparency; as well as the photogravure One Thousandth of a Millionth of a Millionth of a Second.

In these works Dean explores laboratory-based laser tests or nano nuclear equivalent explosions and the possibility of ‘filming’ them. The tests occur in a fragment of time, in femtoseconds—a thousand million millionths of a second. Capturing such micro-events is a task that far exceeds the natural capacities of film, which paradoxically is the only medium capable of recording them.