Art / Projects > The Correct Time (1989 - 2022)

Installation view from 1989 at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago Gallery 2.

The Correct Time
The Correct Time
720 clocks and watches
varies
1989

"Even a broken clock is right twice a day....

When I heard critic Gary Indiana say this about Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, I knew what I had to do. I had to get enough broken clocks for every minute in 12 hours.... so I would have all the time in the world.

I solicited broken clocks and watches from family and friends, church groups and scout troops, on the radio and even in the Star. They came streaming in, cuckoo clocks, timex watches, crazy kitchen clocks and even a grandfather clock. Notes and letters accompanied them, telling about the places they'd seen and the events they witnessed.

The installation went up in 1989. 720 Broken Clocks and Watches, one for each minute in 12 hours. We set each at a different minute, and voila~ The Correct Time. All the time in the world."