MASTER CLOCK

Master Clock is a code-based video work that can play indefinitely without repeating. A series of morphing portraits reframes everyday life by attempting to remove the divisions between the past, present, and future. Antithetical to its namesake, Master Clock asks how long a moment is and where its boundaries are. Is time pixelated or is it smooth? Is time flowing or is it something we move through like a wave through the ocean or a processor reading code? How separated are our actions from their causes?

The subjects in the videos that make up Master Clock are pedestrians in New York City. Videofootage of each passerby is broken into individual frames and reassembled one frame at a time using the web based programming languages HTML and Javascript. Utilizing the web browser represents a non-linear approach to cinema by thinking of time as a landscape with an x, y, and z axis, by using pixels from multiple frames to combine disparate points in time, and by achieving a seamless loop. Through an algorithmic arrangement of the resulting videos–shown in pairs, randomly placed and sized–new narratives can emerge. Using the methodology of websites reflects the current social environment and urban ritual of people watching.

Master Clock can be viewed in any dimension for any duration.

View the project here.