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Israel Museum Presents Christian Marclay The Clock

Acclaimed Video Work Has Captivated Audiences Worldwide, Receiving the Prestigious Golden Lion Award at 2011 Venice Biennale

The Israel Museum presents the exhibition of Christian Marclay’s video work The Clock (2010). On loan from the artist, this internationally acclaimed masterwork of video art is composed of thousands of film excerpts illuminating the passage of time by means of time-related references, among them images of clocks, watches, or announcements identifying specific times of the day. Marclay extracted each of these moments from its original context to form a 24-hour montage that unfolds according to his reconstruction in real time.

Jerusalem, – The Israel Museum is pleased to announce the exhibition of Christian Marclay’s video work The Clock (2010). On loan from the artist, this internationally acclaimed masterwork of video art is composed of thousands of film excerpts illuminating the passage of time by means of time-related references, among them images of clocks, watches, or announcements identifying specific times of the day. Marclay extracted each of these moments from its original context to form a 24-hour montage that unfolds according to his reconstruction in real time.
The Clock premiered in London in October, 2010, and has since been presented in New York, Los Angeles, Venice, and Moscow. Twenty-four-hour screenings have attracted long lines and captivated audiences, with many viewers staying to absorb the work for hours at a time. Marclay won the coveted Golden Lion award at the 2011 Venice Biennale, where The Clock was featured in the Biennale’s central exhibition. The work will begin its first Israeli screening at the Israel Museum on August 23 and will remain on view through October 20, 2011.

“In a time when video art has become such a central medium in contemporary creativity, we are pleased have this opportunity to share Marclay’s masterful new creation with our audiences and grateful to the artist for the generous loan that makes this presentation possible,” says James S. Snyder, Anne and Jerome Fisher Director of the Israel Museum.

Synchronized with local time at each exhibition venue, Marclay’s The Clock conflates cinematic and actual time, revealing each passing moment as a wellspring of alternately suspenseful, tragic, and romantic narrative possibilities. By referencing actual time specifically, wherever it is on display, The Clock transforms the usual sensation of artificial “cinematic time” into the thrilling sensation of real time in the exhibition gallery.

Collage has been a recurring strategy for American artist Christian Marclay since the late 1970s, when, as a pioneering turntablist, he began mixing sounds and recordings before turning to an ever wider range of mediums, including sculpture, photography, and performance. His video work often involves audiovisual assemblage compiled from film excerpts, recontextualizing fragments of modern movie culture into new creative compositions.

The Israel Museum’s presentation of The Clock is curated by Suzanne Landau, Yulla and Jacques Lipchitz Chief Curator of the Fine Arts and Landeau Family Curator of Contemporary Art.

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