Note: This page corresponds to the 2012–13 installation of The Clock. Get details about the 2024–25 presentation
Winner of the Golden Lion award at the 2011 Venice Biennale, Christian Marclay’s The Clock is a cinematic tour de force that unfolds on the screen in real time through thousands of film excerpts that form a 24-hour montage. Appropriated from the last 100 years of cinema’s rich history, the film clips chronicle the hours and minutes of the 24-hour period, often by displaying a watch or clock. The Clock incorporates scenes of everything from car chases and board rooms to emergency wards, bank heists, trysts, and high-noon shootouts.
Christian Marclay—The Clock is on view in the Museum’s Contemporary Galleries during regular hours throughout its run, and is free with Museum admission. Admission to the installation is on a first-come, first-served basis, with no time limits for viewers. Demand for The Clock is expected to be high; please expect significant wait times.
24-Hour Screenings
On December 31, 2012, MoMA presents a special New Year’s Eve showing of The Clock in its entirety, which is the first opportunity for the public to view all 24 hours of the piece at MoMA. The Clock will go on view at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, December 31, and will run continuously until 5:30 p.m. on January 1, 2013. In conjunction with this showing, the Museum’s Cafe 2 restaurant offers a special menu of wines, cheeses, salumi, and desserts on New Year’s Eve from 9:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m., along with an all-night espresso bar.
Continuous screenings:
- Friday, January 4, 2013, 10:30 a.m.–Sunday, January 6, 5:30 p.m.
- Friday, January 11, 2013, 10:30 a.m.–Sunday, January 13, 5:30 p.m.
- Friday, January 18, 2013, 10:30 a.m.–Sunday, January 20, 5:30 p.m.
During after-hours showings, the Museum’s Contemporary Galleries will remain open. Philip Worthington’s Shadow Monsters will also remain on view until its closing on January 1, 2013.
Updates
Beginning December 21, 2012, the Museum will provide updates on visiting The Clock, including live reports on the queue, via Twitter (@TheClockatMoMA). Tweet about The Clock using the hashtag #TheClockatMoMA.
The Clock includes an induction hearing loop for sound amplification. Visitors may turn their hearing aid or cochlear implant to T-coil mode or borrow a headset and receiver from an attendant at the entrance to the gallery. This is the first MoMA exhibition to include such a hearing loop. In addition, all MoMA theaters, lobby desks, ticketing desks, audioguide desks, and one of The Edward John Noble Education Center’s classrooms are also equipped with hearing loops that transmit directly to hearing aids with T-coils.
Organized by Sabine Breitwieser, Chief Curator, with Martin Hartung, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Media and Performance Art. The Clock was acquired by MoMA in 2011 as a promised gift from the collection of Jill and Peter Kraus.
