Images, The “NOW” Clock, 2023, RMIT
The “NOW” clock
Retro alarm clock, Arduino microprocessor, alphanumeric display, USB power source.
The "NOW" Clock is a 1980s retro clock radio. The original display was replaced with a modern alphanumeric display, connected to a small Arduino microprocessor. Rather than telling the time, the clock displays the word "NOW", which blinks every 2 seconds and, after a minute, displays the text- "OH...NO..OH...NO..OW...OW...OW...AAAH...AAAH" before returning to the preceding blinking of the word "NOW".
Sequence images, The “NOW” Clock, 2023, RMIT
I wanted to explore the concept of haunting and hauntology, to create an artefact that could speak to us from a different time. A spectre from the past. The clock is intentionally retro. Its simple circuitry is only meant to display the time, not talk to us. The clock is both familiar and unfamiliar, embodying a sense of the uncanny.
Most of this work was created and presented on the land of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong / Boon Wurrung peoples of the Kulin Nation. I pay respect to their Elders past and present. I acknowledge and honour the unbroken spiritual, cultural and political connection they have maintained to this unique place for more than 2000 generations.