James

While in Berlin I came across a DVD version of a performance piece by Mark Formanek, which he created in collaboration with Datenstrudel on the 2nd of August, 2007. It is called Standard Time. The project involves 72 construction workers, divided up in several teams, building continuously for 24 hours on a wooden and larger than life ‘digital’ clock; breaking up and down the minutes and hours for a full day.

72 construction workers, divided up in several teams, building continuously for 24 hours on a wooden and larger than life ‘digital’ clock.

The DVD I got shows a continuous recording of one of the Standard Time performances. It is a 24 hour movie, a piece that I watched and marvelled at, but it is also a clock that synchronizes itself automatically with your computer clock, displaying the right time.

The piece is thought provoking in itself – but what also struck me were the similarities between Formaneks performance and the art work that Maarten Baas has been doing in the last years. His Sweeper Clock, Grandfather clock and iPhone app became worldly known.

Both Formanek and Baas show people carrying out manual labour in order to give a digital display of time that would continue itself anyway.

What I find so interesting about these projects is the fact that both Formanek and Baas show people carrying out manual labour – in the case of Standard Time and the Sweeper Clock even plain hard work - in order to give a digital display of time that would continue itself anyway. It’s moving to see them working in such an old-fashioned way to contribute to a modern digital world. I can watch it for hours, especially in the case of Standard Time which additionally gives me a glimpse at Berlin with its suburban gritty backdrop featuring the characteristic Fernsehturm.

Ps. If you prefer the Standard Time in High Definition (HD), then please send an additional e-mail to hello@foundbyjames.com. In this format I have 1 DVD, which is compatible with all Windows versions from Windows XP (Service Pack 2) and for Mac from OS 10.6.4