As we wait for a digital action to occur, a wait cursor often appears, indicating the action’s progress. For the most part, it does not reflect a true picture of the situation, but is rather designed as a visual psychological tool that heralds imaginary progress in time. Essentially, it was created to offer an illusion of certainty, a relief from anxiety, and a sense of security and control. It seems we would rather be deceived, so long as we can avoid the feeling that time has frozen. Paradoxically, striving to streamline and manage the intervals between occurrences leaves us eager for a break, and, more than once, we find ourselves staring at a wait cursor instead of taking advantage of the remaining time it presents us with. Our relation to measurable time is neither consistent nor rational. The helplessness of standing in a long line, endless scrolling through a virtual feed, the long seconds that accompany the wait to skip an advertisement or the coffee-making ceremony – underscores that it is not the question of saving time, but escaping the feeling that it is soon over. Reading Time presents new and existing works, all of which respond to the human attempt to control and shape time, and time’s ability to mislead us. Manifestations of managing our most limited and temporal resource underscores questions relating to the human need for delay, for staring, and for the long-awaited redemption bound to the experience.