Christian Marclay

The Clock

Christian Marclay

A 24-hour compendium of time-themed film clips, all synched to the time that appears on the clocks and watches within.

Telephones

Christian Marclay

Cleverly conceived and artfully edited, Christian Marclay's 7 1/2-minute video, Telephones, comprises a succession of brief film clips that creates a humorous narrative of its own in which the characters, in progression, dial, hear the phone ring, pick it up, converse, react, say goodbye and hang up. In doing so, they express a multitude of emotions--surprise, desire, anger, disbelief, excitement, boredom--ultimately leaving the impression that they are all part of one big conversation.

Record Player: Christian Marclay

Luc Peter

Christian Marclay, Lee Ranaldo

Christian demonstrates some techniques and preparations and meditates on the turntable, improvisation, and the difference between the sonic and the visual arts.

Made to Be Destroyed

Christian Marclay

With MADE TO BE DESTROYED, Christian Marclay edits together a multitude of film clips in which artworks are destroyed. The minutia of the preliminary research and ensuing editing highlights a series of narrative and cultural patterns whereby art is the victim of violence. Whether sprayed (Batman, 1989), burnt (Equilibrium, 2002) or smashed (Le sang d’un poète, 1932 The Naked Gun, 1988), artworks are destroyed in moments that express rage against the self and others, the pain of loss, rebellion against a state or political power, or simply the perfect foil for a slapstick mishap.

Money

Henry Hills

Tom Cora, Christian Marclay

Money (1985) is an historical document of the early days of "language poetry" and the downtown improvised music scene. A manic collage film from the mid-80s when it still seemed that Reaganism of the soul could be defeated. Filmed primarily on the streets of Manhattan for the ambient sounds and movements and occasional pedestrian interaction to create a rich tapestry of swirling colors and juxtaposed architectural spaces in deep focus and present the intense urban overflowing energy that is experience living here. Money is thematically centered around a discussion of economic problems facing avant-garde artists. Discussion, however, is fragmented into words and phrases and reassembled into writing. Musical and movement phrases are woven through this conversation to create an almost operatic composition. Give me money!

Lids and Straws

Christian Marclay

Lids and Straws animates 60 photographs of discarded plastic straws to mimic the passing hand of a clock, one second for each image. Christian Marclay took the photographs on his daily walks around London with the idea to control how single-use plastics provide mere seconds of enjoyment yet take an eternity to biodegrade.

Guitar Drag

Christian Marclay

For this video shot in Texas, Christian Marclay connected an electric guitar to an amplifier and dragged it behind a pick-up truck. The resulting cacophonic sound evokes noise music and the destruction of instruments at rock concerts and in Fluxus performances. The work refers more precisely to a racist murder committed in 1998 not far from the film location - James Byrd Jr. an African American, was dragged by a truck for several kilometers.

48 War Movies

Christian Marclay

48 War Movies (2019) is a single-channel video that collapses conflicts from the Civil War to Iraq into a horrifying aggregate spectacle of war. Dramatizations are collaged into almost indistinguishable narratives and presented through concentric rectangles, like a flickering conveyor belt of popular cultural content. The forty-eight war films play simultaneously and continuously, and the accompanying soundtrack generates an indecipherable cacophony of wartime sounds.