MATTHEW BUCKINGHAM
Celeritas, 2009
Screen-printed letters on a chalkboard enclosed in a mahogany cabinet illuminated by natural or artificial light
27 x 22 x 6 in. (69 x 56 x 15 cm)
Courtesy the artist and Murray Guy, New York
Working in both film and installation art, Matthew Buckingham encourages viewers to broaden their understanding of time, human experience, and history. Latin for "speed," celeritas has been postulated as the origin of the " c " — the speed of light — in Albert Einstein's famous equation e = mc2. Buckingham’s Celeritas is frequently transformed; its chalk formula is recalibrated to denote the distance light has traveled to illuminate it. If Celeritas is on display after dark, the doors of its cabinet must be shut to ensure the statement's consistent truth.
