Tick Tock Tick Tock

I thought  after 15 minutes of watching Christian Marclay's The Clock, I might be bored.  Watching time go by is more interesting than you might think. 

Three years

six assistants, 

ten thousand clips 

more than $100,000
and Christian Marclay

I watched 1/12 of Christian Marclay's The Clock on Saturday at MoMA.  I could have stayed longer, but it was time to eat dinner.  I was unprepared for the "venue."  I knew MoMA had taken one of the large galleries and converted it for this installation; I thought it would be a large room with folding chairs, instead carpeting and a room full of comfortable sofas.  Incredible as it sounds, it would be easy to stay for the entire 24-hours, if your bladder would cooperate.  

 

The critics call  The Clock, a tour de force and I can see why.  The 24 hour sequence runs in real time.  After seeing, The Clock the phrase what time is it, takes on new meaning".  On one level you are conscious of time, after all it's on the screen almost second by second,  in real time.  On another level, (i don't know what to call it) the installation, the art piece, the film... works on a number of levels that makes time irrelevant.

There are the visuals, cutting from black and white to color,  incredible sound editing, challenges to the film buff,  the clocks themselves (it's a catalog of makers of wall clocks), the history of the watch (from pocketwatch to wristwatch to digital phone), the humor associated with our obsession with time, cataloging of the thematic uses of time (planes, trains, cars, war, sports, etc.) and those are just a few.

I don't know if this is a rare chance to see The Clock.  It is a chance to experience time travel.

Christian Marclay - The Clock is shown in the Museum's Contemporary Galleries during public hours throughout its run and is free for members and with Museum admission.
Entrance to the installation is on a first-come, first-served basis, with no limits for viewers.

The Clock will be shown in its entirety during three weekends in January.

Friday January 4, 10:30 am - Sunday January 6, 5:30 pm

Friday January 11, 10:30 am - Sunday January 13, 5:30 pm
Friday January 18, 10:30 am - Sunday, January 20, 5:30 pm

The Contemporary Galleries will remain open during all of the after-hours screenings.
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(I wondered if clips would unconsciously influence your state of mind.  For instance, if you went to see The Clock between 10pm and midnight... the clips would be about going to sleep, would you begin to feel drowsy and want to get into your own bed?)