Some passengers of the first trains are said to have fainted due to information overload. The scenes outside the carriage window were changing too quickly. To describe the age of rapid progress, Goethe even devised the term “veloziferisch”, an amalgam of “velocitas” (“speed” in Latin) and “Lucifer”. Most probably it was not meant as a compliment, although “Lucifer” literally means “the bringer of light”. And, if trains nowadays are only up to ten times faster than in his day, then information does already travel with the speed of light. Perpetual acceleration has become the norm, our only fear of falling is when we stop.
Image: Light, 170x201x45 cm, metal, motor, electronics, paint, 2012
