Outside of Christian Marclay's Instillation Piece "The Clock" By: Alexandra Zirinis
Seconds, minutes and hours are all represented by symbols of time, the most well-known being a clock. Clocks and watches surround us every day as we go through life and wait for time to speed up or slow down. Swiss/American artist Christian Marclay brilliantly captures humanity’s obsession with, and reliance on, time in his instillation piece The Clock.
The Clock is a 24-hour video of clips from various films each representing instances of time, whether that is people looking at their watch or simply asking the time. Marclay is represented by London’s White Cube gallery, where the The Clock was first shown in 2010. The piece gained enough praise to then show at the Venice Biennale in 2011 where it won the Golden Lion award for the best film.
The piece seems to be more than just video art, which is probably why Tate Modern London (where The Clock is currently being displayed) refers to Christian Marclay’s work as an instillation of sorts. There are six identical versions of this piece which all run on real time. Twelve noon and midnight are the most important times in the piece. In other words, various clips and scenes from hundreds of films are combined and manipulated to display the actual time. Marclay has vital conditions to accompany the display of his work, which include comfortable seating, cinematic conditions as opposed to a public spectacle, and The Clock must be played in one 24-hour sequence without interruption.
Tate Modern Museum in London, UK Courtesy of Google Images
A final and most important condition is when The Clock is shown, it must be available to anyone and everyone who wants to watch it, without charge. In other words, Marclay insists that there is no selective process when it comes to being able to enjoy the piece to ensure that anyone feels able, and even invited, to take part in this fabulous work. In fact, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston ran into some trouble when they challenged Marclay’s rules and conditions concerning the piece. The museum wanted to host a gala for their VIP members or patrons and screen The Clock, meaning some were allowed to watch and others not. Obviously, this completely goes against the artist’s desires for the appreciation of his work. Luckily, at Tate Modern the instillation (which runs until 20, January, 2019) is free, the seats are comfortable, and the piece is well worth a visit.
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