Artwork Details

Maarten Baas
Dutch

b. 1978

Sweeper's Clock from the Real Time Series
2009
Medium
12-hour digital video
Dimensions
n/​a
Location
Not on view
Accession Number
2016.10
Credit
Museum Purchase
Image Copyright
© Maarten Baas

About the Artwork

This video is a working clock. We see two men filmed from above sweeping rubbish in an otherwise vacant space. They are marking time by pushing two long piles of trash around with their brooms, with one pile advancing precisely every minute, and the other every hour. Their actions were filmed for twelve hours, which is also the length of this video – exactly one-half day. Dutch designer Maarten Baas has created several other clocks like Sweeper’s Clock, in which the passage of time is marked by human actions.