Water-infused human growth hormone, a widely used but unregulated anti-aging drug, flows through Haseeb Ahmed’s "A Fountain of Eternal Youth". Using stroboscopic techniques, Ahmed appears to suspend water droplets mid-air, making them float upward, defying gravity and reversing the passage of time. Since antiquity, the flow of time has been closely linked to the flow of fluids. Early water clocks, which measured time by gradually emptying, are echoed in this work by a water clock modeled after Japanese shishi-odoshi devices that continuously fill and empty. While the artwork creates the illusion of reversing time, the clocks remind us that time inevitably moves forward. This paradox of cause and effect reflects humanity’s desire to preserve life through pharmaceuticals, alongside the unintended ecological consequences these efforts provoke. Ahmed’s exploration of time and fluidity recalls artistic investigations by Belgian artist Panamarenko, who experimented with kinetic and water-based systems to question natural forces, as well as the symbolic use of water in René Magritte’s surreal works, which challenge perception and reality. Through these references, "A Fountain of Eternal Youth" situates itself within a broader dialogue on time, environment, and human intervention.
This work was originally commissioned by GLUON with the support of the European STARTS programme, Pollet Water Group, Pharma.be, Inopsys, VITO Vlakwa, Surplace & Capture-UGent.

Haseeb Ahmed has structured his research-based artistic practice around the fluid dynamics of wind and water. His work, which combines objects, installations, and films, is often collaborative and draws from the hard sciences, blending art and aeronautics, myth and technology to create new narratives. His work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at institutions including M HKA - Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp (BE); von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, Sint-Genesius-Rode (BE); Keller Gallery, MIT, Cambridge (US); and the Museum Bärengasse, Zurich (CH). He has participated in group exhibitions at the MCA - Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (US); the Centre for Fine Arts - Bozar, Brussels (BE); FRONT Triennial, Cleveland (US); Frestas - Trienal de Artes, São Paulo (BR); Digital Art Festival Taipei (TW); the Gothenburg International Biennial for Contemporary Art (SE), and many others. In 2024, he was commissioned to create a large-scale installation, Stock Weather III, for the 15th Gwangju Biennale (Gwangju, KR). Alongside his artistic career, Ahmed maintains collaborative research practices, regularly participating in residencies and contributing to artistic and academic publications such as Afterall Journal, Spike Art Magazine, HART Magazine, and more. In 2024, he was awarded the Synergies grant by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, to develop his collaborative research project Pantha Rhei on the Rhine.