Tim Putt ITGM 705 Art Review 2: Contemporary Digital Artifact Professor David Meyers August 8, 2010 The Exquisite Clock is timepiece that uses imagery from around the world—pieces it together to reflects the current time. The intent of the creators was to connect time, play and visual aesthetics. The EC can be found online at exquisiteclock.org, downloaded as an App for the iPhone, used as a screensaver and seen in installation form and certain exhibitions. Each output uses imagery from the same database. The database has been predominantly generated by the viewers and other artists—as the whole goal is to have the viewer become a part of the artwork by submitting images. The project was created and developed by Joao Wilbert at FABRICA in 2008 with the Creative Direction of Andy Cameron.
Figure 1. Installation at Decode: Digital Design Sensations at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London from 8 December 2009 to 11 April 2010. “Exquisite Clock is a relational artwork where the boundaries between artist and author, producer and consumer are blurred. The Exquisite Clock invites you to participate in a global conversation about form, the limits of recognition and the poetics of the image, transforming a discussion of visual aesthetics into an exquisite game.”
This statement outlines the intentions of the developers at Fabrica. This “global conversation” is a theme that is common to their mission. Fabrica isn’t a school or an agency—it is instead a communication research center that was set up by Benetton in 1994 that is an applied creativity laboratory where young modern artists can come work on their projects in the full spectrum of communications from photography and film to music and design, publishing and the Internet. The “artist-experimenters” come together to create work
that goes beyond language and culture and shows the beauty and diversity of the world using a range of mediums. EC is an example of this collaboration. The interactive artwork uses available technology for the core of the project: javascript and css for the web-based application, iPhone development software and lcd screens for the installations. While the tools are common and the concept is divinely simple, the outcome is universally intriguing and redemptive.
This type of project fits appropriately into our current obsession with personalization as well as that of social networking. It allows the viewer to become the artist. It puts the act and the art of creating into the users domain. By inviting the user, the original creator steps back and lets the composition—for lack of a better word—take a mind of its own. The artwork is stronger for including the viewer as artist. It helps the viewer to expand their own perceptions of shape and the recognition of universal symbols. The expression about watching the time pass by now holds new significance. Watching this visualization of time pass by is creatively inspiring as others interpretations of numbers may widely vary from our own.
My Experience with Exquisite Clock Upon visiting the site, downloading the iPhone App and attempting to install the screensaver I could not resist uploading an image of my own. Looking around my desk I noted two simple shapes that immediately appeared as numerical symbols. I snapped a shot of my mouse and two batteries. The upload process was simple and upon completion thought nothing more of it. To my surprise I saw the batteries on the EC site within 20 minutes. The excitement of the concept quickly transitioned to the surprise and delight of actually being involved.
List of References: http://www.fabrica.it/about http://www.exquisiteclock.org http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYZySL8zXbM. Decode:Digital Design Sensations.