Clock c. 1938

This line drawing of a clock was made by Nicholas Gorid, sometime between 1855 and 1995. I can see him now, bent over the paper, carefully working out the details of the clock’s face, hands, and casing. It’s funny to think about how an image can capture something about time, while also existing outside of it. I wonder what Gorid was thinking about as he drew, what his relationship to time was like. Perhaps the linear precision of the drawing helped him to make sense of time and capture a sense of fleeting moments. Thinking about the repetitive act of mark making and how it can be a way to meditate on time, to slow it down, even. I’m reminded of other artists who investigate our experience of time. I’m thinking about the way that On Kawara marked time in his date paintings, or the durational performances of Tehching Hsieh. Artists are always talking to each other across time, riffing off each other’s ideas.