I’m a fan of Marclay’s work, but with any artist some things hit and some things miss (sometimes by a lot, sometimes by a little) The two pieces by Marclay at Paula Cooper right now – it’s both.
I would guess the big story would be the premier of Marclay’s new video work – which I love the premise of. The video is 24 hours and it corresponds with the time of day in the location it’s being shown in – in other words when it’s 4:18 on the screen, it’s 4:18 in reality or in this case, New York City. In that part it’s clever. In watching it, I became focused on what time it was and how it was displayed that the narrative really went away (this could also be because there is no narrative). I found myself thinking about time, processing time in my head, and waiting for the next image of the clock to appear.
Funny enough, I found myself more interested in this outside the gallery (before and after) than inside actually watching the piece. Was it because I had just connected with a friend from out of town and wanted to talk or was it something else. Not sure. However the piece is a winner – I’m just not sure it’s a winner when you are in front of it. So it may be a bit problematic.
Also on display is a sculpture, Moebius Loop (image above) created of cassette tapes and zip ties, it’s use of reclaimed materials and cheap connections make for a very engaging artwork. In thinking deeper about the use of zip ties on this work – I started thinking a bit about how music connects communities through common language and events. In both of these pieces Marclay gives us a good bit to think about.
Bonus Play: “The Clock” to me carries with it a shared approach with Warhol’s “Screen Tests”. Intial viewing of the screen test may be viewed in many ways, but while viewing the screen tests I always started to become aware of time – knowing these were only three minutes. Often the seemed like the longest three minutes I had encountered.
(above) Christian Marclay. Moebius Loop, 1994, cassette tapes, nylon ties; 24 x 84 x 240 in.