Film lovers fond of a given franchise happily sit themselves down to watch a series back to back on the big screen, giving hours over to the pursuit. Now imagine a continuous film that spans 24 hours, synched to real time, that you can also sit and watch start to finish in a theatre.
Such is the phenomenon of The Clock, the 2010 art installation film by Christian Marclay that first debuted in 2010. The Clock will be screening in Metro Vancouver, arriving this summer for an installation running July 5 through September 15, 2019, at the new Polygon Gallery in North Vancouver.
The Clock. Image courtesy The Polygon Gallery.
Considered a contemporary art touchstone, The Clock is presented in a custom-built cinema situated within the gallery. The masterwork uses film and TV footage from over 70 years, with the time of the footage aligned exactly to real time - you'll be seeing partygoers at night, dream sequences in the wee hours, and people getting their AM caffeine fix in the morning, for example. Of course, images of watches and clocks of all kinds feature prominently throughout this supercut, during which you'll see plenty of familiar famous faces and images.
Here's a three-minute excerpt, showing 12:04 to 12:07 p.m.:
Previously, The Clock has shown at places like LACMA in Los Angeles, MoMA in New York, and the Tate Modern in London. Marclay won the coveted Gold Lion Award at the Venice Biennale in 2011 for this now-famous artwork. Venues exhibiting the piece must agree to be open for 24 hours for some portions of the run, which The Polygon Gallery will do on select Friday nights this summer.
During these overnight screenings, visitors will have their only chance to see the evening and early morning sections of the film, as the gallery is regularly closed when those times arrive in the film's 24-hour cycle. The overnight screenings will take place July 5 and 26; August 16; and September 6 and 13.
The Clock
When: July 5-Sept. 15, 2019. The gallery is open overnight on July 5 & 26; Aug. 16; and Sept. 6 & 13.
Where: The Polygon Gallery - 101 Carrie Cates Court, North Vancouver
Cost: Admission to The Polygon is by donation
