![]() Taking a quick look at the two store-bought clocks hanged side by side, there isn’t much that would suggest that this is art. Video: Curator Jasper Sharp on Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s clocks I wanted those two clocks right in front of me, ticking. This piece made with the two clocks was the scariest thing I have ever done. Time is something that scares me … or used to. Gonzalez-Torres admitted that the clocks would ultimately fall out of synch, and one sooner or later stopping first. The clocks were to be exhibited against a wall painted in light blue. If one of the clocks required battery replacement, it was to be done, after which the clocks were to be reset at the same time. The two hands, minute and second, were to be set in sync with the awareness that the two hands might eventually go out of sync during display. The two black-rimmed clocks could be, however, replaced with white store-bought clocks with the same dimensions and design. When the clocks were installed, they were to touch. Nonetheless, sometimes the batteries die, and it is still possible to replace the batteries and reset the two clocks at the same time. It is going to be very difficult for members of Congress to tell their constituents that money is being expended for the promotion of homosexual art when all they have to show are two plugs side by side or two mirrors side by side…. ![]() Two clocks side by side are much more threatening to the powers that be than an image of two guys sucking each other’s because they cannot use me as a rallying point in their battle to erase meaning. The artist explained how he, more often than not, resisted the label of gay art during the era of extreme censorship and controversy over the NEA funding for Robert Mapplethorpe: While the initial reflection is evidently about his own homosexual relationship, the nonfigurative nature of the two clocks’ swap for bodies allows the piece to be read literally as a metaphor for love. Untitled (Perfect Lovers) also exemplifies the artist’s desire to create artworks that hold multiple interpretations. Letter from Felix Gonzalez-Torres to Ross from 1988 We are a product of the time, therefore we give back credit where it is due: time. We conquered fate by meeting at a certain TIME in a certain space. We imprinted time with the sweet taste of victory. The two clocks represent two mechanical heartbeats, which are illustrative of the two lives ordained to fall out of sync and carry moving poetry about personal loss and the temporal nature of life.ĭon’t be afraid of the clocks, they are our time, the time has been so generous to us. It symbolizes the artist’s HIV-positive partner Ross Laycock and his dawdling decline and inevitable death from AIDS. The piece is a moving comment on his private life. This is caused by running out of batteries as well as the nature of the mechanism. Slowly and expectedly, they fall out of time. It consists of two clocks that start in synchronization. Untitled (Perfect Lovers) (1991) is one of his famous works. Felix Gonzalez-Torres was an openly gay artist who thought it was much stronger to consider the homosexual and straight audience as the same and that Cuban-born American is the same as being American. Many people believe some of his work is a reflection of his experience with AIDS. ![]() Felix Gonzalez-Torres – Untitled (Perfect Lovers), 1991, clocks, paint on wall, overall 35.6 x 71.2 x 7 cm, photo: MoMA Who was Felix Gonzalez-Torres?įelix Gonzalez-Torres was a Cuban-born American artist known for his minimal sculptures and installations in which he used day to day materials such as clocks, lightbulbs, stacks of papers, and even packaged hard candies 1.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |