Centuries of the Bristlecone by Jonathon Keats

Why It Matters

By foregrounding an ecological time scale, the proposal urges societies to incorporate planetary rhythms into decision‑making, promoting long‑term thinking and deeper empathy with future generations and the natural world.

Key Takeaways

• Human calendars evolved from natural cycles to precise atomic time.
• Bristlecone pines live up to 5,000 years, serving as natural clocks.
• "Bristlecone time" measures years by tree-ring thickness, reflecting climate.
• The Long Now Foundation's clock juxtaposes UTC with bristlecone time.
• Emphasizing multiple time standards fosters empathy across generations and species.

Summary

Jonathon Keats’s video introduces “bristlecone time,” an alternative chronometer that gauges years by the growth rings of the world’s longest‑lived trees, contrasting sharply with the atom‑based Coordinated Universal Time that dominates modern life.

He traces humanity’s shift from seasonal cues—bird migrations, insect songs, wildflower blooms—to ever‑finer atomic standards, then argues that this precision can mask the planet’s slower, ecological rhythms. Bristlecone pines, some nearly 5,000 years old, record climate variations in each ring, offering a living calendar that accelerates or decelerates with environmental conditions.

Keats highlights the Long Now Foundation’s Bristlecone Preserve and the clock installed at the Nevada Museum of Art, which displays both UTC and bristlecone time side by side. He notes, “Each is correct,” and urges viewers to recognize the myriad time‑keeping systems that exist in nature, fostering empathy across species and eras.

The concept challenges the dominance of a single, human‑centric time metric, suggesting that aligning our schedules with long‑term natural cycles could reshape planning, sustainability, and intergenerational responsibility.

Original Description

A decade in the making, 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘦 is a monumental artwork by artist and conceptual philosopher Jonathan Keats, commissioned by the Nevada Museum of Art in partnership with The Long Now Foundation. It is composed of two parts: a giant arboreal clock built by clockmakers Phil Abernethy and Brittany Nicole Cox, and a land art installation at Long Now's Nevada Bristlecone Preserve, home to the world's longest-living trees.

This video is also a sneak peek at 𝘌𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦, a documentary short about the creation of 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘦, which is in festival selection throughout 02026. Follow Long Now for future screening dates and details.

- Learn more about the 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘦 project: https://longnow.org/centuries/

- Visit the clock at @NevadaArt where it is exhibited as part of their permanent collection: https://www.nevadaart.org/