Amazing artwork alert: Lincoln Center opens Christian Marclay “The Clock” on July 13

Large clock on building corner from The Clock movie by Christian Marclay.

About a year and a half ago, in February of 2011, Christian Marclay's spellbinding, 24-hour movie The Clock played to packed houses at the Paula Cooper Gallery, day after day and, on weekends, all through the night. Even at two in the morning, during one of the most relentlessly bitter winters in memory, hours-long lines ran down the otherwise-deserted West Chelsea sidewalk. We were lucky (and relentless) enough to see about a third of The Clock (the part from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m, and then, on another day, from 7:00 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.), and, really, it was one of our favorite artworks/movies/cultural events of all time. And now Christian Marclay's The Clock returns to NYC, starting next Friday, July 13, right near The Regent and Grand Tier, two of Glenwood's Westside rental buildings, at Lincoln Center.  

Clock on top of building from Christian Marclay's The Clock movie at the Lincoln Center.

First, a refresher on what Christian Marclay's The Clock is all about. Basically, Marclay and his team have assembled literally thousand of clips from literally thousands of movies, of all different genres and eras, from the old silents to recent releases, each moment from each movie featuring someone or something telling the time. Often it's a shot of a watch or a clock, either part of the action or in the background, but there are plenty of creative surprises as well, such as characters speaking the time (either exactly or approximately, like: "It's already after 8:00") or, our favorite, when a clock would say the incorrect time, but then someone would come and move the hands and fix it, PHEW. And it's important that it's the right time because the time in The Clock coincides with the time in the real world, your world, as you're sitting there watching. Very, very cool. It's also wonderfully, often amusingly thematically cohesive from scene to scene, and the editing of the The Clock's score is a monumental achievement in itself. 

Alarm clock on night stand from the 24 hr movie by Christian Marclay at the Lincoln Center.

At Paula Cooper they set up huge, comfy couches, lined the gallery with thick curtains, and so, once you got to your seat, it was easy to lose yourself in Marclay's creation. At Lincoln Center, The Clock will be shown within the David Rubenstein Atrium, which, frankly, doesn't at all look like a pleasant place to sit and watch a movie for hours (see below), but they're going to completely transform the place, apparently, adding velvet curtains to block out light and sound, and putting in those same (or similar?) great couches, enough to seat 90 people at a time, which might sound like a lot, but totally isn't. Given the warm weather and the installation's central location, you should expect long waits… but if you can do it, Christian Marclay's The Clock film is absolutely worth it.  

The David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center.

Christian Marclay: The Clock at Lincoln Center details 

Christian Marclay: The Clock will be showing between July 13 and August 1 at a specially built theater within Lincoln Center's David Rubenstein Atrium on Broadway between 62nd and 63rd Streets. The hours are Tuesday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. (Glenwood residents: take a morning off and get there early!) to 10:00 p.m., and continuously, all through the day and night, from Friday at 8:00 a.m. through Sunday at 10:00 p.m. Closed Mondays. Admission is free. For more information about Christian Marclay's The Clock, please see the Lincoln Center Festival website here

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