The National Gallery of Canada (NGC) invites the public to see the Canadian première of The Clock, a masterful work by artist Christian Marclay.
Christian Marclay. Still from The Clock, 2010. Single channel video with stereo sound. Standard definition footage at 1024 x 576 (16:9 aspect ration) 25fps. 24 hours, looped. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Promised gift from the collection of Jill and Peter Kraus. © Christian Marclay. Courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New York.
This ode to time and the cinema is made up of thousands of fragments from a wide range of films to form a 24-hour, single-channel, real-time video loop. Gallery visitors will also have the opportunity to hear Canadian artist Janet Cardiff’s famous and much-loved work Forty-Part Motet. As well, the Artissimo kiosk will feature family activities, and photography lovers can attend a free talk on the influence of American photography from 1900-1950 on Canadian photographers, as part of the exhibition Made in America 1900-1950: Photographs from the National Gallery of Canada. For complete information on programming, visit www.gallery.ca/winterlude.
“We’re excited to celebrate Winterlude in the Gallery for the second year in a row,” said NGC director Marc Mayer. “It’s a great opportunity for people to take advantage of the NCC festivities to discover the outstanding works in the Gallery’s collection, and for children to get to know the visual arts through entertaining, fun activities.”
The Clock, by Christian Marclay
Eagerly anticipated since the announcement of its acquisition in fall 2011, the Canadian première of The Clock by Christian Marclay will feature four full 24-hour screenings of the work over the nights of February 10, 17, 18, and February 19 in the special exhibition gallery of the Museum. Visitors will also be able to experience the installation during the Gallery’s regular opening hours, from 10 am to 5 pm, Tuesday through Sunday inclusively.
Jointly acquired by the NGC and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, this installation, for which the artist won the Golden Lion prize at the 2011 Venice Bienniale, evokes the wonder and illusionism of more than a century of cinema through a captivating 24-hour looped video that plays in real-time. This remarkable production compiles thousands of film references to time and timepieces creating a compelling moving illustration of the minutes of a passing day.
Several years in the making, The Clock examines how time, plot, and duration are depicted in cinema. Viewers will experience a vast range of cinematic settings and moods within the space of a few minutes, making time unravel in countless directions and rupturing any sense of linear, narrative sequence. The work is both a homage to more than a century of film history and an affirmation of our present time.
No reservations. Seating is limited to first-come, first-served.
National Gallery of Canada
380 Sussex Drive,
P.O. Box 427,
Station A, Ottawa, Ontario,
Canada, K1N 9N4