( CNN ) -- Hawaii 's Garden Isle , Kauai , may appear to run on a different clock than the rest of the world -- unless you happen to glance at those 24 timepieces lining the west wall of the island 's Lihu ' e Airport departure lobby in three neat rows . Then , for however many seconds you wish to suspend your whole notion of time , it 's the exact same hour , minute and second everywhere on the planet . In Belfast and Bhopal . Rio de Janeiro and Reykjavik . Mogadishu and Santo Domingo . And according to several other location-specific clocks straying from the usual Tokyo-Paris-New York scheme . `` When you look at these clocks it 's a little bit odd , '' says Parker Croft , a Kauai-based architect , farmer and the creator of `` Time for One World , '' an international art exhibit that aims to dispel , however momentarily , the whole divided ( and delusive ) notion of multiple times around the globe . Inspired by Einstein ... and Y2K . Launched at Vermont 's Burlington International Airport , the exhibit was conceived by Croft while working as a college professor in New England . `` It was 1999 , shortly before the millennium change , and I was fascinated by that whole Y2K furor going on , '' recalls Croft . `` It led me into researching what time is really all about and how -- as Einstein poignantly put it -- time is 'man 's most pervasive illusion . ' '' The world 's time zones , notes Croft , are `` currently based on political borders and outdated views of travel , commerce and communications . Divisions that are often illogical . '' To address the point , the architect designed an alternative artistic model of a single , shared 24-hour cycle worldwide , which `` challenges us to relax our preconceived notions of structures that are contrived and artificial . '' One universe . One world . One time . In Croft 's model , time would be re-calibrated biannually on the equinoxes ( fall and spring ) . Leap Year adjustments would be replaced by a brief semi-annual time stoppage ( about three hours ) , a `` free time '' recess dedicated to a worldwide celebration of humanity and relationships . Can you imagine that ? Could John Lennon even imagine that ? Wounded Knee , Hiroshima , Falkland Islands represented . The overall effect of 24 oddly labeled clocks evoking universal time `` can be unsettling for some -- even threatening , '' says Croft . In fact , the curious clocks of Kauai serve to achieve the opposite . To unite and embrace . `` We are a planet that is joined in the beat of a single heartbeat , '' says Croft . `` And that heartbeat is best appreciated when it 's recognized and celebrated . '' Travelers glancing at the distinctive Lihu ' e Airport clocks , installed more than a decade ago ( the installation is on long-term loan to the Lihu ' e Airport , says Croft , but is n't necessarily permanent ) have plenty to get their time-addled heads around before their flight departs . There are no numbers on the clocks , which are divided into 24-hour faces instead of twelve , with each clock displaying the exact same time in perfect sync . Then there are the 24 locations labeled below each clock -- selected from 24 separate 15-degree segments of the Earth 's surface , and all associated with important historical events . Ross Ice Shelf . Falkland Islands . Bikini Atoll . Watts . Not your typical wall clock reference points . Auschwitz is written in Polish . Hiroshima in Japanese . Tiananmen Square in Mandarin . Non-Sioux speakers will wonder where the clock labeled Cankpe O ( Wounded Knee ) refers to -- which is just the point . Some references should be obvious enough ( Chernobyl ) . Others , like San Francisco ( Summer of Love ? ) or Ahmedhabad ( hint : Gandhi ) or Injinoo may require personal interpretation or the services of Google . Which is also the point . `` The inspiration for independent research is an important part of this mission , '' notes Croft . `` The viewer 's participation is critical . '' A world without leap year . In a world as troubled and triumphant as this one , sliced into manufactured time zones that accentuate distance over connection , the presence of 24 perfectly synchronized world clocks beating as one in a small South Pacific airport might , at the very least , give travelers a moment 's pause . And beyond that ? Are there fans of Croft 's suggestion to just stop time for three hours in the spring and fall ? `` I do n't think anyone takes it that seriously as a proposal , '' says Croft with a laugh . `` But there are certainly fans of the art installation who take the notion of stopping to celebrate humanity quite seriously . `` Personally , '' he adds , `` I think it would be a big improvement over New Year 's Eve . ''
Kauai 's Shin ' e Park is home to a unique collection of world clocks . Each clock displays the time in order with historic significance . The installation is that of a former architecture professor and current architect .