Glass, resin, nickel-plated brass, and electronics

5 7/8 x 6 3/4 x 5 7/8" (15 x 17 x 15 cm)

Revital Cohen addresses the contentious subject of modern reproductive technology with her Artificial Biological Clock. In vitro fertilization and related methods, she explains, are making it hard to retain a realistic view of how long a woman may put off childbearing. Here Cohen contrasts natural and artificial by highlighting contemporary social pressures and expectations that dictate a woman’s reproductive vitality, rather than her natural body rhythms. In past eras women’s bodies and reproductive cycles were thought to be in harmony with the lunar cycle—if this ever was true, it is no longer so, Cohen theorizes, because of “artificial light and contraceptive hormones.” She says that “along with the growing pressure to develop a career,” habits of modern life are “distorting the body’s reproductive signals.” A woman no longer in touch with her body’s rhythms could rely on the Artificial Biological Clock to remind her of her fertility’s “temporary and fragile nature.” The clock is fed information via an online service from her doctor, therapist, and bank manager. When these complex factors align perfectly, the clock lets her know that she is ready to have a child.