If you are on your London tours, you cannot miss seeing the Tate Modern art gallery. It is one of the four art galleries, which together makes up the Tate group. It is located in the Bankside area of London. Among the art galleries around the world, which houses contemporary and modern artworks, the Tate Modern is one of the largest one.
The most amazing fact about the art gallery is that the public can freely access it. While many of the museums and art galleries around the world allow only paid visits to the public, the Tate Modern is unique in that anyone can visit the museum free of charge. However, if you are planning to visit some temporary exhibitions happening in the place, you might have to take a ticket for the same.
The Clock by Christian Marclay was displayed in the Tate Modern from 14 September 2018 – 20 January 2019. This was a temporary exhibition, which was accessible to everyone free of cost. It is an installation, which was loved by people around the world. Christian Marclay prepared the installation through long processes of research and studies. It is a 24-hour long installation, which combines excerpts from different films from around the world. He edited it in such a way that they flow in real-time. Therefore, it is also referred to as a functioning timepiece.
A person who watches this presentation will notice that the time shown on the screen and the time on his/her watch are the same. However, there is much more to it than just being a time teller. Here are some of the specialties of this special exhibition.
It is More Fascinating than Looking Time on your Watch
It took the efforts of three years for Marclay and his team to come up with The Clock. He and his six assistants sat through hours watching several films to find references to time, watches, clocks, etc. Finally, they knitted together all these clips that they took from different footages, to form the final film.
If you watch the presentation prepared by Marclay, you will get to see time presented on hourglasses, sundials, pocket watches, microwave LEDs, and many other devices. As a viewer, you will be amazed by the way, in which time is featured in the film. It will be an experience in which you watch time, rather than thinking about it.
It is the Story of Time
While watching The Clock you will understand the pattern that men follow in spending their time. On a day, many of the men do the same things at the same time. However, many of us are not conscious of the pattern that we follow. Watching this presentation will help the viewer to connect the shared moments in many people’s lives. However, the story of time as presented in the film is not told through some characters as in a normal film. This film is a compilation of the footage taken from different films. Nevertheless, one can deduce the story of humanity from the presentation. Time is the factor, which links the different footage shown in the film.
It is a Treat for Both Eyes and Ears
Since there are different clips taken from different movies, the audio feature of the film was a challenge before Marclay. However, he did the blending of the video and audio wonderfully. He used the already existing audio of the clips and used them together to make an altogether new audio score. This audio used in the film is one of the main highlights of the film. In 2002, Marclay had worked on a similar project called Video Quartet, which is a 14-minute clip, which was prepared from more than 700 film clips.
It is a Wonderful Journey through the History of Cinema
For those who love films, watching The Clock will be a wonderful journey through the past century of filmmaking. They will be able to see the faces of many favorite actors of theirs on the screen. Many famous films like the Titanic, Pulp Fiction, and Breakfast at Tiffany’s are featured in the film. Therefore, the film is also a wonderful tribute to some of the excellent films of the past. There might seem to be some insignificant dialogues in the film, but the portrayal is beautiful on how the writers and characters of the films were influenced by time.
It is a Beautiful Reminder for Life
After all, watching the presentation by Marclay on time is not a waste of time. It makes the viewers think about the implications of time in real life. It makes the viewer think about the importance of time in the present. It serves as a memento mori reminding the viewer about the fragility of his life. The viewer becomes time conscious and will be challenged to think about the future. This makes the film a wonderful timepiece that one can encounter in his/her life.
The presentation of The Clock in the Tate Modern was a remarkable event in its history.