Christian Marclay’s ‘The Clock’ at SFMOMA
Author:Lindsey ShookThere are 1,440 minutes in a day, and several times that many clips in The Clock, Christian Marclay’s epic, 24-hour-long video collage of film segments that each in some way reference an exact time of day, drawn out to align with real time.
The product of an almost unthinkably tedious, 3-year process of collecting and editing,The Clock has paid off, proving a smash hit since debuting at London’s White Cube gallery in 2010 and establishing Marclay as a sort of art world version of mashup artistGirl Talk.
Now the colossal work arrives at SFMOMA – a fitting exhibition to count down to the museum’s impending three year closure, which goes into effect June 2.
To accommodate The Clock, SFMOMA converted an entire exhibition area into an enormous black box. Lined with several dozen Ikea couches, the space falls somewhere between museum and movie theater, which is wonderfully pleasant – once you’re in. However, the museum warns visitors to expect substantial lines for the piece, as space is limited and, at past exhibitions, people have been known to settle in for very, very long viewing sessions (for true die-hards, SFMOMA will be offering a smattering of 24-hour viewing periods during the month of May).
Worth it? You bet. But manage your expectations: This is still one of the more overhyped art works of recent years.
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