'Anachronism' is the name of an exhibition sponsored by Jaeger-Lecoultre that was presented at the end of June through the beginning of July at the Carrousel du Louvres in Paris. It will continue on to Zurich (in Schiffbau from November 15 to 25), then on to London, Düsseldorf, Milan, the USA, Japan, and other cities.
Jaeger-LeCoultre is quite accustomed to organizing exhibitions, for which it spends about 10% to 20% of its communication budget. This is a fairly unusual strategy. Today, it has arranged not less than 20 small theme exhibitions travelling to 45 countries. The largest one, 'Voyage to the Heart of Time' went on for ten years and attracted 40,000 visitors. Its new 'Anachronism', however, takes on a whole new dimension.

The time, all the times
The project is ambitious, very contemporary and totally successful. Designed and developed by one of the reigning stars of Swiss graphic arts, Roger Pfund (among his accomplishments are the extraordinary Red Cross Museum in Geneva, banknotes for France, and the new Swiss passport), Anachronism is a modular scenography that invites the viewer to travel into the substance of time, or times, we should say. Personal time, intimate time, life times, 'crazy times, strong times, times of grace or tempo andante' all weave a fabric of our personal lives. The mechanical watch speaks about all the aspects of time. It does this symbolically, with the tiny gears representing the image of our inner 'springs'.

A technological Zen unit
The exhibition is presented in the form of a unit measuring 225 square metres and 4 metres high. It can be accessed through one of twelve doors. When a visitor approaches one door, it opens majestically and then turns on itself before closing, the exact representation of what a Reverso does.
Inside, 16 windows similar to Hi-Tech totem poles present four historical watches of the enterprise (the Reverso, the minuscule 101 movement, the Mémovox and the Atmos) as well as 12 current timekeepers. They all seem to float magically in their geometric totems (lighted by 100 cool light bulbs, with absolutely no shadows). On each side, six multi-media windows show films relating to the various aspects of the work of the enterprise. They are silent but extremely effective, powerful and informative.
Sound is heard elsewhere. The visitor is accompanied by an audio environment that evokes all the ways, for example, natural, mechanical, audio and musical, in which time passes. Here, eight screens descend, dividing up the space, where five fictional films are shown. These black and white images evoke all the times lived by man. From heart beats to metronomes, from the passage of the sun and the clouds to the present action, watching the seconds pass by at a frantic pace.

Scenography
The ultra-sophisticated technique provides for extreme precision in the dramatization of this entirely modular scenography. A central computer commands the overall audio-visual effects, sounds and lighting, creating virtual spaces, enclosing the visitor in a cube of screens where he follows a whole day in just a few minutes. He is free to move from one vision to the other as he wishes, building for himself his own understanding of time and his own travels.

Communication tool
Comprised of several tonnes of material, several kilometres of cables, and needing three semi-trailers to transport it, Anachronism, beneath its techno-Zen appearance, is a vast operation. The talent of Roger Pfund is clearly visible. Above all, this 'show' offers service to a great ambition. Jaeger-LeCoultre, breaking with the didactic nature of most of its expositions, is trying to accomplish several objectives: a cultural event; getting the viewer to reflect on the essential questions that concern everyone; demonstrating the incredible extent of the workings of a watch 'manufacture' with its 40 different occupations; and finally showing the beauty of the watches that come out at the end of the process.

Interesting and worthwhile on many levels, the Anachronism exhibit is also a powerful communication tool. Jaeger-LeCoultre expects to organize fruitful meetings with the clientele of large retailers in cities that are lucky enough to be chosen for the travelling exhibition.