Version:

There are two measures of time. One is objective and defined by periodical and invariable phenomenon. This is the time kept by clocks. The second time is subjective. It depends on an individual's perception, the age, the context or intensity of events. This is the time stored in one's person. I propose to transform a clock conceived to measure objective time into a clock that gauges subjective time.

 

Methodology

To achieve this, a clock will be created where each minute is indexed according an individual's notion of a minute. As such, each measure of a minute will be different from the one that precedes it.

 

There are 1440 minutes in 24 hours. 1440 different people will be asked to count 60 seconds based solely on their perception of this duration. Each person will count according to his or her own rhythm creating a personal and specific measure of time. At times, a subjective minute will last 60 seconds; at other time it will last more or less.

 

These different measurements of a minute will be interpreted as electronic signals which will be connected to a clock's mechanism.

 

The clock will thus reflect these different perceptions becoming a panoply of subjective measures of a time.

 

To achieve this, a domestic battery operated clock will be used. These semi-analogical clocks contain an electromagnet which propels the hour, minute and second hand sweeper forward on the dial. By programming the electromagnet, one can determine the frequency of the sweeper's rotation.

 

Data Acquisitio

faycal-baghriche_interface_web.jpg

Fayçal Baghriche, software for acquisition from 1440 subjects, 2014. © Fayçal Baghriche. Courtesy of the artist.
Fayçal Baghriche, software for acquisition from 1440 subjects, 2014. © Fayçal Baghriche. Courtesy of the artist.

The recording of second intervals will be made with a box containing a push button which each contributor can manipulate. This box will be linked to a computer to which a recording program will be installed.

This interface allows me:

  •  To input the name of the contributor
  •  Record the number of times the contributor pushed the button
  • Calculate of the time from the first to last time the button was pushed

 

Software

The software needed to acquire the data will be compatible with a personal computer and capable of being downloaded into the clock's electronic module. Once the software is downloaded, the clock will be autonomous and function without connection to the computer or a power source.

 

About the artist

Fayçal Baghriche was born in 1972 in Skikda, Algeria and now lives and works in Paris, France. He obtained a national diploma of fine arts from La Villa Arson in Nice, France in 1991, followed by a BA in Dramatic Arts at Nice Sophia Antipolis University, France in 1998. In 2001, he completed a Master's degree in multimedia creation at The National School of Fine Arts in Paris, France. Baghriche was instrumental in establishing an artist residency in Paris at La Villa du Lavoir and is a founding member of curatorial structure Le Commissariat.

 

In the past 10 years, he has exhibited widely both in France and abroad, including Brooklyn Euphoria, New York; Dashanzi Art Festival, Beijing; La force de l'Art 2009 and La Nuit Blanche, Paris; and Le Printemps de Septembre, Toulouse. In 2011, he participated in the 54th Venice Biennial as part of the first pan-Arab pavilion, The Future of a Promise. In recent years, his work has been shown as part of the biennale of Gwanju as well as in art centres such as Contemporary Art Museum Huston, Outpost for Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Bielefelder Kunstverein, Germany, Al Riwaq Art Space, Bahrain, The Museum of Modern Art in Algiers and the Dakar Biennale in 2014.


test