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dimanche 23 novembre 2014

Christian Marclay 's The Clock , my 24 hours impression of the whole video


Yes last july went to the Beaubourg Museum to see one of the very rare 24 hours complete display of Christian Marclay 's The Clock. 

For years i really wanted to see a complete rendition of it (how can some hours be enough if you have to think about a 24 hours developpment? ) 

I was intrudoced to this work thanks to Olivier Pliz -  the Silencio Artistic director , (you know , this Parisian very famous "David Lynch designed" private Art club, i did a recital some years ago there with work of Curran , Cage , Satie & Glass ) . 

After some talk when he knew i was able to do 24 hours in a row Vexations (i did not do the 35 hours in Palais de Tokyo yet, and was sure i could never do more than 24 hours to be honest) , he got this strange idea for the 1st Birthday of Silencio to do Vexations along side with Marclay's The Clock. 

This is who i got interest in this huge video , and ... as i was frustrated not to be able to do this project, i contacted my friend the wonderful Video Artist Laurent Fiévet and we started to work on the [Vexations]2.0 


But ... as i told in many interviews, i was still looking forward one day to be a simple public for a very long concert , i did for Alvin Curran 's Inner Cities XL twice (it was wonderful) , and ... when i saw that for July i was finally free the very day of the Complete 24 hours The Clock ... Yes i prepared myself and went ! 

As i did already for my very own exhibit , i write my comments under pictures. Yes ... i know i should not have done it , but .... i took pictures in an hour basis of The Clock . Also like that the ones that "do not" belive that i could stay 24 hours ... Well .... i can prove it ! 





So ...... For those who do not know this work , this is a small explanation : 

The CLOCK (2010)

The Clock is a major cinematic work by New York–based artist Christian Marclay. Winner of the Golden Lion award at the 2011 Venice Biennale, The Clock samples thousands of excerpts from the history of film that indicate the passage of time—from clock towers to wristwatches to buzzing alarm clocks—that the artist has edited together to unfold on the screen in real time as a 24-hour montage.
Called “an abundant, magnificent work” (Financial Times) and “utterly transfixing” (Huffington Post), The Clock is Marclay’s most ambitious moving-image project to date, garnering rave reviews from critics and the public alike since its premiere in 2010, and subsequent presentations at a host of venues worldwide.
It is in effect a clock, but it is made of a 24-hour montage of thousands of time-related scenes from movies and some TV shows, meticulously edited to be shown in "real time": each scene contains an indication of time (for instance, a timepiece, or a piece of dialogue) that is synchronized to show the actual time. The Clock debuted at London's White Cube gallery in 2010.
The Clock has been described as "addictive" and "mesmerizing". The Guardian called it "a masterpiece of our times". In The New York Review of Books, Zadie Smith stated that The Clock "is neither bad nor good, but sublime, maybe the greatest film you have ever seen, and you will need to come back in the morning, in the evening, and late at night, abandoning everything else, packing a sleeping bag, and decamping to the Paula Cooper Gallery until sunrise". Newsweek named Marclay one of the ten most important artists of today.

At the 2011 Venice Biennale, Marclay was recognized as the best artist in the official exhibition, winning the Golden Lion for The Clock. Accepting the Golden Lion, Marclay invoked Andy Warhol, thanking the jury "for giving The Clock its fifteen minutes". The film also won in the "Best Editing" category at the Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 2011.




MY VERY OWN COMMENTS : 



As every marathons, i prepared myself with many food , a pilow a blanket , some very confortable dress and some nice socks . I also had a water spray (brumisator) and many kind of drink. 
Some Red Bull
Some Water
Some Juice 
lot of chocolate bars , many candies , 3 sandwiches , some cakes ...... I was only missing a Tent for camping !!! 


Already i must start with a RED CARD to the Beaubourg Museum !!! Thanks to a fan, i was able "not to do" the very very huge queue. But ..... 

The Clock was starting RIGHT AT 11 am , and ... the museum opened door at ???? 11 am !!!!! 
Come on !!!!! You come all the way to see "all the Clock" and .... time to enter , to run for byuing tickets (yes i really ran!) and after running to go to the room .... i missed the first 3 / 4 minutes !!!! 
And .... i was only the 3rd one to enter !!!!!! 



You can see on this picture that i took when i entered , there was 2 people front of me. 
Of course i knew i was going to stay long , so ..... i took the best place possible ! 
Right in the middle of the Room ! with all my belongings aroung me

Also ... it started with technical problems : 
NO SOUNDS !!!!!! 
and .... it lasted almost 20 minutes ! 



12 AM 


The begining was really amazing , like a typhoon of images and video 
the edit was so much virtuositic 

few people were with me from 5 to 12 


1 PM 

As far as i remember you would see somtime like 15 or more clock per minute ! 

still few people , and the one front of me just left ! so .... i became the 1st one ! 


2 PM 

At this time there was still few people there 
we were ... let say .... 20 ? 


a black thing ??? Yes i even let this image. It helps me to remind that at 2 pm something i felt asleep!
i think i was asleep for 45 minutes as .... 3 o clock was so noisy that it woke pe up 


3 PM 

Every hour was very very noisy , like thunder of clock and ringing ! 
it really makes a tremendous effect ! 


4 PM 


The 4 1st hours are the hardest . As we are not used to watch a non stop movie for so long. And most of the people are leaving within this range. 
At this time you really start to enter in .... there is "no" typical story , as the main caractere is ... the Time itself ! 

Unfortunately the very nice personn who came with me and keep me some line in the queue had to left (family i suppose, only me is stupid enough to put Art front of everything) . I was very happy to see him and to have shared those moments with him and hope to see him soon !! 

As a friend told me, yes this is true that we see a very lot of "clock from train station", but ... there are so many images, so many editing that ... it's ok . It did not even shock me





5 PM 


6 PM 

at this time , more people were coming ! Maybe the end of job for some of them ? 


7 PM 

Yes no more big space. You can see from the pictures themselves ... i really had to share my huge place with 2 other people 




8 PM

At this point , the whole video start not to be "that" good anymore
Normally 8 pm is the time most of the museum and galleries are closing to public , so .... 
Maybe Marcley did not need to be "as much" virtuoso as he used to be ? 

I did not took picture of it , but at this very point, the Clock starts to dissaper for some "stupid" or useless storries . 
Here , no more clock , but on the other hand ..... classical concert ...... 
but .... why ????? 
I would not care much to see classical concerts from cult movies , even ... this is great 
but ... the main problem is that .... we see clock like ... once every 15 minutes ??? 

And ....... this will be for the whole night ! 



at 9 PM & 10 PM i forgot what was the concept , but still .... few clocks .... 
It was no more Classical music , but something .... i really did not appreciate it ! 


Another thing that you can see : Starting from this point it was really really crowded ! 
It was "free" from this point , so more and more people wanted to see the "night things" that they might have missed during the exhibit time. 



Unfortunately i had to share my bench with 3 / 4 more people , and had to get very focused 
as some lady behind me was always mad when i was streatching my muscles ( but come one ! i was the only one to stay since the begining !!! ) 



11 PM

Half the way !!!!! I stayed 12 hours !!! 

I also started to have my 2nd real meal at this point ! 
I ate 1 sandwitch alongside with some RedBull 

But .... still few clocks !!!! the concept was more and more tainted ! 




As you can see ... it is very very very crowdy !!!! 
There were many people on the floor as well , many moves in all directions 


12 PM !!! 
this was the craziest of all the ours
It was extremely noizy and impressive !!!! 
With some bombs explosions and some huge fireworks
The peak point was from the movie V as Vendetta 




many explosions 


more explosions ! 



and more people ! 


1 AM 

Well this hour was for the Movie Nostalgic a very nice gift
There were images as far as i remember from Cocteau "La Belle et la Bete"
Murnau's Nosferatu ... still few clocks .... 





At this point i could not hold anymore and ... when to the bathroom ! 
And .... so many many people were waiting outisde to enter !!!!! 
It was amazing to be in Pompidou Museum and ... no one was here .... like silent .... 
i wonder if the one that could folow until very late my 35 hours non stop Vexations in Palais de Tokyo felt the same way .... 


Fun thing : when i came back .... i .... felt on the floor !!!
There were SOOOOO many people laying down on the floor that i could not even see them and hit their legs ..... i felt bad for the injuried one .
I also still thank the guy who was shared my bench as he kept my place ! 



2 AM ..... and ..... the porn begins !!!! 

Well ... i am a little bit over exagerating

but ... from this point and until 6 am ...... there was one very stupd theme : 
dreams ! 

First legion of people leaving , but more where coming too . 
So .... not very peacefull , and many complains 


Surely erotic dreams and some barely naked women ... 





3 AM 

From here and until 5 or 6 AM the theme were crazy dreams 
almost always the same , like the Dream in Vertigo (i am sure you get what i mean) 
like you are taking drugs ..... 
First time was ok ( still a clock every 15 minutes ) but after 4 or 5 times .... 
COME ON !!!!! WE GOT IT !!!!!!!!!



4 AM 

At this point people started to leave and no one were coming  




5 AM 

Still stupid dreams and few clocks 

3 quarters of the work !!!!!! 




6 PM 

As you can see ..... less and less people ! 

I think from 3/4 we were only 2 to share the bench ! that was much better ! 

The Clock original concept came back , and it was finally more interesting 

I felt furious about this so much stupid and useless night ! 




7 PM 

People were leaving to go to job ! 
We might have been 25 in the room now 

I took there a very nice breakfast ! some biscuits and organge juice ! 


8 PM 





9 PM 

At this point it became as intense and interesting as the start ! 

So .... yes i liked it 


I went to the bathroom and .... since we were so few i did not have to run to keep my place
so ... 

i took some nice pictures of Pompidou in the morning with no one inside ! 









10 PM 
Almost the end !!!!! 
23 hours !!!!! 







And ..... the UNTHINKABLE happen : 

Security people throw everybody away at 10.50 am !!!!!

10 minutes before the end !!!! 

They were saying : we have to close , we open at 11 am 
when ... it was the very last projection ! 
How stupid they can be 









With very very few people we stayed a litte more , standed near the entrance to see the very last minutes


At 10.55 those stupid people turned out the sound !!! 






Some few minutes to go .......... please ...................


at 10.57 they turned everything off !!! 


10.58 they even turned the light on .... 



And ... we had to leave ! 
Deprived from the very very last minutes !!!!! 
HOW FRUSTRATING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Going out at 11 am , this is the queue for the Museum Entrance 


Result ? 


Yes i loved the concept , and the original idea is very good 

From "Museum Opening time' the result is gorgeous and full of virtuosity ! 

After it ? 

Not very interesting 

Trying to organise the Night with concepts such as : 
Orchestral Music 
Explosions 
Dreams 
Sex things 
Only for the sake of 'finishing the work in time" was not not good ! 

I am not a video artist but i really feel that with some 2 or 3 more years of work , the movie could become something tremendous 

But .... few people will see it entirely and in a row , so .... i am sure that i will be the only one to think in this way 

Yes ... if you see 1 or 2 hours it is GREAT , otherwise ..... well ..... i don t think i will go again if i have the chance 


When i saw the movie , in the very same time i posted those pictures on facebook 
I posted one every hour just to proove that i did it and not went away or slept a ong time during the 24 hours 

One friend did a very very interesting comment when he saw them : for him it really DOES look like some "Hour Movie Generator" from Internet , and even ... he recoginsed some pictures ! 
So .... i am quite sure that Marclay might have used this help for his research. But even if he did , it does not put away the fact that it was quite a wonderful work , but ... with ups and downs