Each moment, once
Every minute of every day, a unique image is born — time itself rendered visible, then gone forever. You will never see this moment again. This is not a clock that tells time. It is a mirror that reflects its passing.
Understanding the ephemeral
Memento Watch is a philosophical art project disguised as a clock. For every minute of the day — all 1,440 of them — a unique AI-generated image is created, with the current time naturally embedded into the scene. Each image is shown once, to one viewer, and then never again. It's a meditation on impermanence.
Memento mori — "remember that you will die." An ancient philosophical practice of reflecting on mortality, not to despair, but to appreciate. Each fleeting image is a small memento: a reminder that this moment, like all moments, is precious precisely because it cannot be held.
No. Once you've seen an image, it's marked as viewed and will never be shown to you again. Different viewers may see the same image — we are, after all, sharing this moment in time — but your personal experience is unique and unrepeatable.
Each image is generated by AI, prompted to create a scene where the current time appears naturally — etched in stone, painted on a wall, glowing in neon, scattered in leaves. The numbers aren't overlaid; they're part of the art, as if photographed in a world where time makes itself visible.
Technically, yes. Philosophically, that's missing the point. The value isn't in possessing the image — it's in witnessing it. But we won't stop you. Sometimes we need souvenirs of moments we know we can't keep.
Memento Watch was created by Dan Bystritsky as an experiment in digital impermanence. Built with curiosity, existential unease, and a bit of hope.