‘The Clock’: An Ode to Time and Cinema

Visual artist and composer Christian Marclay takes appreciation of cinema to a new level with The Clock, a video exhibition currently showing at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. As the exhibition description states, “The Clock is a 24-hour compilation of film and television clips, edited to tell time in the present.” This may be an accurate description of the work on paper, but the experience itself provokes so much more.

Marclay’s video breaks down the barriers of genre, language, and most importantly time. He samples film and television clips from various time periods, and the thread that ties them into one conscious work is the time of day that the characters, as well as the audience, exist in.

The Clock provides a visual experience for its audience that is unlike any other; viewers leave the exhibition in a trance. With subtle transitions between clips and the overarching characteristic of fluidity, Marclay’s piece has the ability to transfigure time. Multiple scenes are often shown within a minute before the crowd has the time to blink.

With clips ranging from black-and-white foreign films to quotable scenes from Step Brothers, Marclay’s work acts as a cinematic awards ceremony: he recognizes the talents of numerous actors, directors and cinematographers who have significantly contributed to film throughout history.

A unique quality that this art installation possesses is the ability to connect to its spectators in a palpable way. For once, viewers have something in common with the characters that they watch on screen—they co-exist, at the same point in the day. This may not sound like much, but it is strange to be able to check the time on a movie screen.

Spectators have completely different experiences depending on what time of day they visit the exhibition: the movie is ever changing—now go see it.

The 3^rd and final 24-hour showing of ‘The Clock’ is from Sunday, October 9^th at 4 pm-Monday, October 10^th at 4 pm. To learn more about the exhibition, visit http://www.mfa.org/programs/special-event/clock.