Jands recently supplied drapes to the Museum of Contemporary of Art in Sydney, which enabled the museum to host the Southern Hemisphere premiere of Christian Marclay’s creation, The Clock.
The Clock is a unique form of video work that is comprised of several thousand short extracts from cinema history.
Each short is reflective of a particular time of day, or references a particular moment in history, often through the appearance of a watch or clock-face.
Marclay cleverly linked each of these short extracts together to form a continuous visual sequence that is synchronised with the real time of your visit.
If you view the film at noon you will be watching a scene that references this particular time of day.
Even more impressively, the scenes suggest countless interlocking narratives despite the constant changes in genres, eras, locations and plotlines.
“A number of galleries were vying for the rights to show the piece but the MCA’s ability to deliver the required specifications and equipment meant they managed to get the rights,” said Mark Brown, MCA’s AV Coordinator.
The museum may not have been able to hold the premiere had it not chosen to enlist the assistance of Jands, who provided and helped to install the drapes that appear on the stage.
The museum took advantage of their new renovations, and held the film showings in the largest gallery of the new extension, which was transformed into a cinema.
“It was decided to use black drapes to black out the space and create the ideal acoustic environment. Also the aesthetic of the drapes and the feel of them in the space worked well,” explained Mark.
The drapes effectively transformed the gallery from a large, white room into a black space that was suitable for viewing films.
According to Mark, the artist and his technician were very pleased with the install.
“I know he was happy with the drapes because he didn’t mention them!” concluded Mark. “He didn’t have to think about them because they were just fine.”
