Dimensions: unconfirmed: 215 x 110 x 115 mm
Copyright: © Man Ray Trust/ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2014 | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: Man Ray's "Indestructible Object," a readymade sculpture, presents a metronome relentlessly marking time, adorned with a photographic eye. It has a dark, unsettling vibe. What do you make of it? Curator: Well, isn't it deliciously morbid? Like a dark joke about time and loss. Man Ray created this piece after his lover left him; the metronome is a stark reminder of relentless, unstoppable time, and the eye—originally Lee Miller's—is a potent symbol of surveillance, of being watched, judged, maybe even haunted. Editor: So, it's personal, yet universal, that feeling of being trapped by time and memories? Curator: Exactly! Plus, the title is ironic. It’s *meant* to be indestructible, but the eye was meant to be destroyed, again and again. It's poignant, isn’t it? Editor: It is. I never thought I could feel sorry for a metronome before.
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http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/man-ray-indestructible-object-t07614
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Man Ray made the first version of this object shortly after his partner, the photographer and model Lee Miller (1907–1977), left him. Attaching a photograph of Miller’s eye to the metronome, he linked his memory of her to the idea of an insistent beat or pulse that was both irksome and unending. The presence of Miller’s eye also raises interesting questions regarding the gaze. Man Ray recalled: ‘A painter needs an audience, so I also clipped the photo of an eye to the metronome’s swinging arm to create an illusion of being watched as I painted’. Gallery label, September 2024
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