The Evolution of Life in 60 Seconds is an experiment in scale: by condensing 4.6 billion years of history into a minute, the video serves as a self-contained timepiece. Like a specialized clock, it gives a sense of perspective. Every event – from the formation of the Earth, to the Cambrian Explosion, to the evolution of mice and squirrels – is proportionate to every other, displaying humankind as a blip, almost indiscernible in the layered course of history. This is useful, largely, for the sake of humility.
Each event in the Evolution of Life fades gradually over the course of the minute, leaving typographic traces that echo all the way to the present day, just as our blood still bears the salty tang of our most ancient evolutionary ancestors.
This video was commissioned by SEED Magazine for its Darwin Day 2009 celebration, and was screened at the 2009 Brooklyn International Film Festival.

