TIME
Clocks in Cairo’s metro always remind me of Fermata (you know the musical symbol that looks like the bird’s eye?) I wonder - Do the mystical Arabic clocks hold the power to pause time, like a thousand nights frozen in time?
How does one perceive time? How is time measured? Sean Ellis’ Cashback (2006) took us to a world (well, midnight at Sainsbury to be precise) Time wasted at insomnia after heartbreak was trade-off by £6.75 an hour working in a supermarket as a night shifter.
Another clock-related work often springs to mind is Felix Gonzalez-Torres's Clock / Perfect Lovers dedicated to his late partner. This piece tells the moment when time as a marker of both life and love.
Farewell and mortality.
“Don’t be afraid of the clocks, they are our time, time has been so generous to us. We imprinted time with the sweet taste of victory. We conquered fate by meeting at a certain time in a certain space. We are a product of the time, therefore we give back credit were it is due: time. We are synchronized, now and forever. I love you.”
Of course, that brings me back to the wonderous memories of Kirsti and the tattoos on the back of her ear. It was a late summer and the university started, you took me to walk along the river Thames and we took the Thames Clipper. On our first trip to Tate Modern to see Gonzalez-Torres’ retrospective show, she introduced his work to me. We stared at the corner of shiny Klein blue candies mountain and tried to figure out what the fuck is Conceptual art. We were excited to be admitted to Goldsmiths college to study fine art. We both thought there was hope, a little promise for the future that diverge into many different spidery paths. Our start of a star friendship, first week when I moved to London when we were 19. She was my first friend who decided to be my friend. My ‘only’ friend at Goldsmiths in my first year. Damn, I miss that girl.
Perhaps it’s time to pause and reflect on time.
The only hurdle is need to find the space and TIME…
