I started writing this around January, but there’s so much to write about that I didn’t get around to finishing it until now. Let’s go!
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I haven’t been feeling too well recently. Nothing serious! I’ve just been a bit sniffly this week. I can probably tell you the reason why – sleep deprivation. Specifically, a lack of sleep from last weekend where I stayed at the Tate Modern overnight.
The reason I was there was because I was watching 22:00 – 10:00 of Christian Marclay’s The Clock. I love explaining what The Clock is because I’m still completely enamoured with the idea of it to this day.
The Clock is a 24 hour film, a work of visual art and collage of video clips where time is referenced in dialogue, sound or visuals and sewn together into one near seamless work. Synced to real time, it is true to its title – at 18:04 a clip from a film or television show will appear where it is explicitly stated as the time in the scene and reality by a character or a clock in the background. It’s one of the longest screen-stares I’ve ever had without ever needing to glimpse at my phone or a watch because the time was embedded right there into the experience.
I have never seen anything like it and will probably never see anything of its kind again. The experience of watching it is mesmerising – stoking so much internal discourse and wonder in your mind at the nature of time, space, the transcendence of the two, both how this thing was made and how this thing is. On top of this, I don’t think I’ve had as much fun with a piece of visual art as I have here.
I ashamedly take a fair amount of pride in just knowing things, facts and understanding references. When my friend Ruwaida took me to the Tate Modern one weekend to see this spectacle I jumped out of my seat when certain clips appeared. As it went on, I decided to see The Clock as a test on myself to see how many familiar films and TV shows I could spot, bringing a notepad to later screenings. After leaving that first visit though, I was absolutely hooked and determined to see all 24 hours before I’m gone from this mortal coil. There’s just something so satisfying about pairing a visual reference stored somewhere in the deep recesses of your head and putting a name to it.
I mentioned before how The Clock transcends time and space. This can sound a bit Doctor Who-esque but I don’t think there is another phrase for it. I’ve always liked the idea of the world being an unfathomably massive place – that somewhere, someone might be doing the exact same thing as me purely because the global population is made up of so many people that I will never be unique in doing anything. However, on the converse side of this, you can also understand that the unique nature of everyone’s actions can also mean that you are the only person doing what you are doing right now.
In its selection, I believe The Clock deliberately chose live action clips which are also set primarily on Earth. Other fantastical worlds, landscapes and graphical realities were left behind at the door and I believe this is to hark back to that captivating idea from earlier. For instance, in one minute we could be shown a scene of a couple having an argument, then switch to a man at his deathbed surrounded by his family before being whisked away to a woman who’s late for a train. The one thing these scenes have in common with each other? The time.
Everybody has their own world and with it their own problems, stakes and comforts – all these different stories are what really engross us in fiction and even keep ourselves going on in our own daily lives. To peer into all of these, even for just a few seconds and at such frequency really puts into perspective how small you are: just like the wider universe, the world is a much bigger place than you can ever imagine and there is an unconceivable amount of things occurring all at the same time, meaning different things to different people.
As monumental an effort finding all these clips is, it would mean nothing if they didn’t come together near-seamlessly. The sound editing is very much a key aspect in this when connecting sequences and spaces. For example, a bell toll from the strike of the hour could bleed into the following scene with a background effect to hint that the scene of the bells was just outside where we are now. Some soundtracks are maintained from the individual scenes, but new pieces were also created for The Clock. Its soundscapes could be as simple as having a diegetic piece which ties the energy of scenes together in moments such as rush hour for work or 19:00 soirees, or just sewing scenes together sonically with shared effects.
The Clock is outright a fascinating survey and study of time and what we perceive to be a ‘normal’ day for most people. The collision of certain scenes and moments is intriguing. Certain actions and behaviours align at certain parts of the day, and we see several activities such as breakfast, lunch, the morning rush to work, the afternoon rush home and dreams etc. commonly appear together at an average point of the day – most likely when you naturally (or unnaturally assume they would happen. However, this both asks and answers the question of why do we assume these scenes should happen during these times?
What we see in The Clock is a culmination of a holistic 100 year cinematic, televisual and creative legacy which determines these human activities to happen at these specific times. These are based on assumptions of both ours and the creators of these individual works of when these things should happen to create an ‘Equilibrium of When’. How much were these decisions on ‘when to set a scene’ were influenced by the media the creators consumed and were inspired by? How much of the work was influenced by their daily lives? How much were their daily lives influenced by this reiteration of when you should do things? It’s a bit of a ‘Chicken and The Egg’ scenario and makes you question the temporal norms of our whole society and the things that influence it (beyond your circadian clock).
Around the early hours of 03:00 – 05:00, since not many films have important scenes set in that time spot, The Clock begins to get a bit more dream-like. Sleepy imagery appears with vision mixed scenes of people slumbering. Borrowed dream sequences are mixed in as a fascinating showcase of how these crazy experiences are represented. I did say earlier that The Clock only gets “a bit more dream-like” as it’s already quite ethereal throughout. The small scale stitching of the scenes is beautiful at points, bringing together energies, moods and motions. A character may leave through a door in a 1920s classic and another would seamlessly enter in an early 2000s film with the same momentum, slamming the door behind them as if they were the same character. This really does tie into that idea that it is one world with a dreamlike, non-sensical but completely understandable connection. Our interpretation of the space we see through this 16:9 window seems completely fine because of these transitions – we nod along because our brain snaps it into place and forms a narrative because we want one, even though The Clock is guiding us through this absolutely bonkers, non-euclidean space.
Following that initial screening, I believe I went back to visit 5 more times to feed the addiction. The big one though was the overnight screening to catch the block outside of the Tate Modern’s opening hours of 22:00 -10:00. I arrived at the venue kitted out in comfortable pyjamas for 20:00 but was shocked to realise others had the same idea as the line was absolutely packed. I bided my time and listened to MGMT‘s Little Dark Age as I queued for 3 hours, eventually getting my seat (the layout was comprised of uniform Ikea sofas) at the front of the screen and settled in for 12 hours of self-imposed cinematic hypnotism.
Unfortunately, I did miss 22:00 – 23:03 due to the queue, but I’m determined to follow The Clock to its next home and watch those last 63 minutes. For each screening, I also had my trusty notepad with me to write down the films I spotted and those that I wanted to investigate further, writing down some key actors and lines of dialogue to do some IMDB sleuthing later. Spotting the films I knew and more so the ones I loved was my favourite part. They made me jump out of my seat in giddy excitement once they popped up and some of the appearances were very special to myself.
Below you’ll find the list of films I spotted and their respective times, adapted from my notebook. If you do ever get a chance, please do go and see The Clock. I’m determined to see The Lost Hour I missed when it reappears: of this I am certain. After all…
…it’s simply a matter of time.
Visit 1 – 12:30 – 15:30
12:3~ – Live and Let Die
12:55 – Dr No
13:05 – Mission: Impossible 2
13:30 – Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
13:51 – Spider-Man 2 – Pizza Time!
14:03 – Watchmen
14:07 – Primer
14:13 – Billy Liar – This one eluded me for a while since I only saw it once at Stockport Film Festival 2013.
14:30 – Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
14:45 – Goldfinger
14:46 – The Transporter
14:47 – Twin Peaks
14:48 – The Prisoner
14:54 – National Treasure – This got a few laughs for the old ‘water bottle as a magnifying glass trick’.
15:00 – Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
15:10 – Speed Racer – Absolutely loved this bit. Speed Racer is due an article on here as I adore that film to bits. It’s amazingly imaginative and hearing the audience respond to this was a very validating moment for me.
15:10 – Oldboy
15:10 – High School Musical
15:20 – Mary Poppins
15:26 – Cigarettes and Coffee – I love this film of small vignettes by Jim Jarmush and loved that it was included!
Visit 2 – 15:30 – 18:00
15:~~ – One Hour Photo
15:~~ – Before Sunset – I wasn’t sure if this was Before Sunrise or Before Sunset but then I used my common sense and deduced the movie!
15:50 – Wall Street
15:54 – The Terminal – Very underrated Tom Hanks movie which warmed my heart when I saw it at a fairly young age. Still appreciated it all the same!
15:58 – Twin Peaks
15:59 – 12 Angry Men
16:20 – Pulp Fiction
16:~~ – Cigarettes and Coffee
16:38 – Blade Runner
17:00 – For a Few Dollars More – Incredible sequence building up to the final duel in this movie. Big fan of The Man with No Name Trilogy and this moment was left somewhat alone, music and all, to preserve its spine-tingling climax with the line “Now we start.”. I was so happy this appeared, yet a bit frustrated I forgot that such a pivotal scene involving watches was one of my favourite cinematic moments.
17:08 – The Man with the Golden Gun
17:~~ – Slumdog Millionaire
17:40 – Cigarettes and Coffee
17:40 – Red Riding 1974
Visit 3 – 18:00 – 22:00
18:00 – Mary Poppins
18:40 – Juno
18:40 – The Matrix
18:49 – On Her Majesty’s Secret Service – This was the scene where Bond is trapped in the clock tower which is a bit of key imagery in the film’s opening sequence, which also reminded me of the film’s theme by John Barry and got it stuck in my head again! Amazing vibes of “Time is running out” and impending doom.
19:00 – Bruce Almighty
19:00 – Seven
19:11 – 24 – Following this scene with Kiefer Sutherland was a scene from a film with Donald Sutherland – his dad! A nice nod with the clip choice here.
19:20 – The Mask
19:30 – Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
19:35 – Casino Royale
19:35 – From Russia With Love – A Bond double whammy here!
19:46 – True Lies
20:10 – Back to the Future
20:12 – Mission: Impossible 3
20:25 – The Prisoner
20:2~ – MacGyver
20:30 – Sherlock Holmes
20:30 – To Kill a Mockingbird
20:30 – Jumper
20:50 – Hannibal
21:55 – Mission: Impossible
21:55 – Goldeneye
22:00-23:03 – The Lost Hour
Visit 4 – 23:03 – 10:30
23:03 – Mission: Impossible
23:25 – Mr and Mrs Smith
23:41 – Lost in Translation
00:00 – V for Vendetta
00:00 – 24
00:09 – What Lies Beneath
00:20 – Goldfinger
00:55 – The Great Escape
01:05 – Saw
01:25 – Fight Club
01:30 – The Machinist
02:15 – Titanic
02:24 – The Green Mile
02:32 – Memento
03:00 – Twin Peaks
03:19 – Taken
04:05 – Panic Room
04:15 – The Wizard of Oz
04:28 – Twin Peaks
04:55 – From Russia With Love
04:58 – 12 Rounds
05:00 – Oceans 12
05:40 – Citizen Kane
05:4~ – The Big Lebowski
05:4~ – Blade Runner
06:00 – Groundhog Day
06:00 – Bruce Almighty
06:01 – Before Sunrise
06:14 – Psycho
06:20 – The Devil Wears Prada
06:30 – The World Is Not Enough
06:31 – Matilda
07:00 – Back to the Future Part 3
07:05 – American Psycho
07:20 – Vanilla Sky
07:25 – Die Another Die
07:40 – For a Few Dollars More
07:45 – Twin Peaks
07:50 – Back to the Future Part 3
07:59 – Back to the Future Part 1
07:59 – Children of Men
08:05 – Mission: Impossible
08:15 – A Clockwork Orange
08:16 – Pulp Fiction
08:25 – Back to the Future
08:30 – Precious
08:39 – Falling Down
08:43 – No Country for Old Men
08:53 – The Blues Brothers
08:59 – District 9
08:59 – Jingle All The Way
09:45 – Mission: Impossible
09:58 – Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
09:59 – Catch Me If You Can
10:05 – Back to the Future Part 2
10:10 – Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
10:15 – The Boat That Rocked – Saw this a long time ago and it was hidden in the back of my head. It piqued my curiosity and I made a note of it. Eventually when I was rewatching it on Netflix this scene appeared and it suddenly clicked!
10:18 – Die Hard with a Vengeance
10:24 – The Breakfast Club
10:28 – Back to the Future
Visit 5 – 10:30 – 12:30
10:~~ – What Lies Beneath
11:00 – Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets
11:15 – A Series of Unfortunate Events
11:15 – Heat
11:30 – The Breakfast Club
11:33 – Falling Down – I believe this is the ‘breakfast’ scene which is the most I’ve seen of this movie.
11:37 – No Country for Old Men
11:40 – Run Lola Run – I love this film so much and was buzzing when it appeared!
11:40 – The Prisoner
11:45 – Amelie
11:45 – Pulp Fiction – This was ‘The Watch’ scene with Christopher Walken. Iconic and hilarious, I knew this scene was going to appear since it was one of the first scenes to come to mind which I knew involved a prominent timepiece.
11:49 – Point Break
11:52 – Wall Street
11:55 – Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
11:55 – Titanic
11:57 – Sherlock Holmes
12:16 – Casino Royale
12:30 – Rain Man
12:31 – In the Loop – Very happy this was the last one I spotted as I absolutely love The Thick of It and this film.
minutiae+musings 