A million Times Project
A million Times is an ongoing series by Humans since 1982 that continues the conceptual exploration of one of their first collaborative projects The Clock Clock (2008). These kinetic sculptures subvert clocks by presenting them as art objects, unleashed from a solely pragmatic existence while continuing to report accurate time.
In these artworks, the hands of multiple analogue clocks are programmed to spin individually and in formation to perform abstract choreographies and movement patterns. Once every minute, the clock hands align to accurately display the time in a digital typography, playfully reporting and representing the concept of time passing.
“We experimented with animated typography and developed a font that was based on a grid of clocks, whereby we made the clock-hands stop in certain positions in order to create letters and digits. Once the clock hands rotated again the characters would fall apart. Using clocks to show this circle of formation and decline was intriguing and after some experimentation it proved to be beautiful too. Even though the movement of each clock hand is very restricted and simple – as it can just rotate around the ever-same centre – when programmed to move simultaneously with the other clock-hands, referring to each other in time and space, it created something with emergent properties: the whole was more than just the sum of its parts.”
– Humans since 1982
The first A million Times artwork was exhibited in 2013 at the design fairs in Dubai and Miami. Since then the project has developed in ambition, complexity and scale to include public commissions such as A million Times at Changi, a 504 clock face artwork that is one of the largest kinetic sculptures in the world.
Artworks from the A million Times series have been exhibited worldwide and are included in internationally significant art collections including: Platform L, Seoul; Changi Airport, Singapore; Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta and Collection of the City of San Jose Public Art Program.
Read full Artist Statement here
Editions
A million Times 61c
A million Times 72
A million Times 72v
A million Times 120
A million Times 144
A million Times 288 (Ten)
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