{"id":3545,"date":"2012-10-21T12:18:00","date_gmt":"2012-10-21T17:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.daveomeara.com\/home\/?p=3545"},"modified":"2022-03-20T17:31:38","modified_gmt":"2022-03-20T22:31:38","slug":"the-economics-of-the-clock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.daveomeara.com\/home\/3545\/","title":{"rendered":"The Economics of The Clock,<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Here are some excerpts from my original tumblr blog, watchingtheclocktoronto2012.tumblr.com<\/a> involving my reflections and reading on the economic aspects Christian Marclay’s The Clock<\/strong><\/em>. How was it created? Just how is it bought and sold? Who paid the living expenses of the artist and his assistants during the creation? Why is it shown in museums and galleries, rather than in public places? Why are there usually long lines? These questions were on my mind as I traveled to Toronto in October 2012 in an attempt to view “the entire thing” in four days. This is a selection of my posts in which I pondered these issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

How much does it cost?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

So how much does \u201cThe Clock\u201d cost? Apparently the work is purchased by the Museums that show it, and at least in Los Angeles, the price is $467,500\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But individual donors also stepped forward to fund particular artworks that moved them. With Marclay\u2019s \u201cThe Clock,\u201d Hollywood film producer and New York Giants Chairman Steve Tiscch, who became a LACMA trustee last year, pledged the $467,500 needed to buy the work before voting began.<\/p>Source: \"Los<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

What does it mean to buy a copy?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

So I\u2019m figuring a \u201cpurchase\u201d of The Clock for (in round numbers) a half-million bucks<\/a> involves a lot more than buying a set of DVDs, more even than buying a custom hard-drive with the entire 24 hour movie loaded onto it, together with computer-controlled projection system with custom software to make sure the move is always synced up with the best locally available time server. No, I\u2019m sure there are lawyers involved.  I\u2019m sure that when a museum (or group of museums, see below) \u201cpurchases\u201d The Clock, they\u2019re signing a very long contract<\/em> that spells out in some detail the performance rights,  which almost certainly do not include DVD sales.  There may be geographic limitations, both on the museums and on the artist (I\u2019ll bet the museums can show the piece only in specified venues, and the artist may agree not to sell another copy to anyone else within a certain geographic range.)  Just guessing on that part. The artist may also specify that the piece needs to be shown in darkened rooms, with seating, rather than on video monitors in the general gallery. Also guessing on that part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So it turns out that the \u201ccopy\u201d (should we say \u201cversion\u201d or \u201cinstance\u201d ??) to be shown at The Power Plant in Toronto isn\u2019t actually owned by The Power Plant, which shouldn\u2019t be too surprising, since the Power Plant is collection-less gallery, an art space, a venue.  So anyway, here\u2019s the footer on the Power Plant\u2019s The Clock page:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organized by the National Gallery of Canada
Purchased in 2011 with the generous support of Jay Smith and Laura Rapp, and Carol and Morton Rapp, Toronto. Jointly owned by the National Gallery of Canada and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston<\/p>Source: <\/a>thepowerplant.org<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Which makes sense, since Wikipedia reports that The Clock was in Boston from September to December 2011, and at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa roughly from April through July of this year.  If some of the donors who put up the money actually live in Toronto, it\u2019s not surprising that it would make it\u2019s way to a gig in Toronto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Budget<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Marclay\u2019s budget exceeded a hundred thousand dollars. White Cube\u2019s signature artist is Damien Hirst\u2014a man who has made a diamond-encrusted skull\u2014so Marclay\u2019s sum seemed comparatively paltry. Moreover, the cost would be partially covered by Paula Cooper Gallery, which would show the video in New York<\/p>Source: <\/a>newyorker.com<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Okay, now we\u2019re getting close to the actual economics of creation. How the artist survived during the creation of the work, how the assistants were paid.  As someone who works at an art college, these are burning issues.  How do these big international art projects get made?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Assistants<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

At Marclay\u2019s request, White Cube posted a \u201cHelp Wanted\u201d sign at Today is Boring<\/strong>, a cin\u00e9aste redoubt on Kingsland Road. Six young people were hired to watch DVDs and rip digital copies of any scene showing a clock or alluding to the time. (Sophia Loren to Marlon Brando: \u201cI can\u2019t appear at eleven o\u2019clock in the morning in an evening dress!\u201d) Files were logged with search-friendly titles: \u201c1124\u2014kid waiting on streets\/old man checks watch\u2014Paper Moon.\u201d<\/p>Source: <\/a>newyorker.com<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Right.  This is what I\u2019m interested in. What the assistants did. How they were hired. What they were paid to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, he didn\u2019t want to outsource its construction, in the manner of Jeff Koons or Takashi Murakami. Marclay believes that \u201cart is all in the details,\u201d and so he committed to handling what mattered most: the editing. The key to his video projects, he believed, was the artfulness of the transitions, which reassured the viewer that a tactical intelligence controlled the flow of imagery. He also felt that the clock video would not cast a spell if it had the blunt cuts of its Internet cousins\u2014those \u201csupercut\u201d compilations of Hollywood clich\u00e9s, such as action heroes deadpanning, \u201cWe\u2019ve got company.\u201d He wanted his supercut to emulate the rhythms of a Hollywood feature. Others could collect the thread, but Marclay would weave the tapestry.<\/p>Source: <\/a>newyorker.com<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Okay.  So the assistants did the ripping and Marclay did the editing. We\u2019ll accept this as fact until evidence to the contrary appears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Conditions of Display<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When I speculated that the artist was controlling the conditions of display<\/a>, I guess I was correct\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the risk of seeming difficult, he wanted the video to be shown exactly as he\u2019d planned it, down to the IKEA couches. \u201cThe Clock\u201d was a twenty-four-hour video with a twenty-four-page instruction manual. \u201cVenerable museums are acting like greedy kids,\u201d he said at one point. \u201cThere\u2019s a lack of scholarship. It\u2019s all about how many people they can get through the doors. How to preserve it, how to give it the best possible presentation\u2014that doesn\u2019t matter. They just want a hit.\u201d<\/p>Source: <\/a>newyorker.com<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Well, This is Disappointing: Fancy Screen Saver<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The one thing I had been hoping was that Christian Marclay wouldn\u2019t allow this to happen:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cThe Clock\u201d had certainly made Marclay wealthier: five copies, intended for museums, were being sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the sixth had been sold to Steven A. Cohen, the Connecticut hedge-fund manager, for an undisclosed sum. (Cohen started showing the work on a monitor in his office, as if it were a fancy screen saver.)<\/p>Source: <\/a>newyorker.com<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

So rich guys can have this on a computer screen? Or just one rich guy, who happened to come up with the cash when Marclay and the galleries who supported him (White Cube in London and Paula Cooper in New York) really needed it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bizarre Footnote<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

At the end of Daniel Zalewski\u2019s excellent and thorough profile on Christian Marclay<\/a>, there\u2019s this bizarre footnote:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MOMA acquired a copy of \u201cThe Clock\u201d for its permanent collection. It did not buy one, as originally stated.<\/p>Source: <\/a>newyorker.com<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Please, somebody from MOMA, clarify. What, exactly, is the difference between \u201cacquire\u201d and \u201cbuy\u201d? And why does it matter so much to MOMA to make this pedantic distinction?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First Five Copies<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

So I\u2019m getting a clearer picture of just how the economics of The Clock<\/strong> work.  Later on I\u2019ll be reflecting on what it all means, but for now I\u2019ll just try to get the facts straight:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Wikipedia<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Clock<\/em> has been sold to several art museums. The work owned by the New York collectors Jill and Peter Kraus, is a promised gift to the Museum of Modern Art<\/a>.[6]<\/a> In 2011, Steve Tisch<\/a> pledged the $467,500 needed to buy the work for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art<\/a>.[7]<\/a> One month later, the National Gallery of Canada<\/a> and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston<\/a>, announced the acquisition of another copy. In February 2012, yet another version was acquired jointly by the Tate<\/a> in London, the Centre Pompidou<\/a> in Paris, and the Israel Museum<\/a> in Jerusalem.[8]<\/a><\/p>Source: Wikipedia<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

According to The New Yorker<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Clock\u201d had certainly made Marclay wealthier: five copies, intended for museums, were being sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the sixth had been sold to Steven A. Cohen, the Connecticut hedge-fund manager, for an undisclosed sum. (Cohen started showing the work on a monitor in his office, as if it were a fancy screen saver.)<\/p>Source: The New Yorker<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

That means six copies altogether, right? So The Clock, although it\u2019s a digital artwork, capable of nearly infinite perfect reproductions, is being sold as limited edition print.  Very limited edition<\/em>. Through my web research, I have a pretty good idea of where those six copies went:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 1\/6: Steven A. Cohen, undisclosed amount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 2\/6: Jill and Peter Kraus, promised gift to MOMA<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 3\/6 Los Angeles County Museum, with $467,500 pledged by Steve Tisch<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 4\/6 National Gallery of Canada and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (\u201cPurchased in 2011 with the generous support of Jay Smith and Laura Rapp, and Carol and Morton Rapp, Toronto. Jointly owned by the National Gallery of Canada and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 5\/6 The Tate, London, the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 6\/6 ?????<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My research so far shows that one copy remains unaccounted for.  The Clock has been shown in Australia and Japan, as well as in Venice, but the Yokohama exhibition was a trienniale, and Venice the Biennale, and the Australian museum\u2019s web page shows no indication of sponsorship or ownership<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So if we take the one disclosed price ($467,500) as typical, we\u2019re looking at total gross sale of in the range $2-3 million. Maybe if the last copy sells for a higher price, the gross could go over $3 million. Not bad for brand new work of contemporary art, but minuscule for a movie that has people lining up for hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incidentally, the Wikipedia mention of the MOMA sheds some light on the distinction between \u201cacquire\u201d and \u201cbuy.\u201d<\/a> If the collector buys the piece, then donates it to the museum, or entrusts it to the museum\u2019s care with an agreement to donate it at some time in the future, that\u2019s \u201cacquiring\u201d a work of art (as in the MOMA case).  If a high-net-worth individual pledges a donation to the Museum contingent upon the Museum purchasing a certain work of art, that would be called \u201cbuying\u201d (as in the LACMA case).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Line<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Having just the other night stood in line for 90 minutes to see The Clock, which cost me the opportunity to \u201csee the entire thing,\u201d I thought I\u2019d reflect a bit on the economics of lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some market theorists (particularly those with lots of money) denounce lines as inefficient, and say everything should be allocated by price,  Prices, they say, if set up cleverly enough, can eliminate lines entirely and maximize both attendance and revenue streams. In response, I would argue that lines are perfectly valid method for allocate scarce resources.  It\u2019s a method that favors those willing to spend time, rather than money. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I would argue that Christian Marclay knew exactly what he was doing when he insisted that The Clock be shown for free, in smallish dark rooms, rather than in pricey simulcasts at the multiplexes (like the Metropolitan Opera), or say, some kind of synchronized subscription streaming over the internet. To see The Clock, you have to invest time. You have to go to a particular place and sit in a dark room with people you don\u2019t know. You have to give up some of your autonomy and become part of an audience<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are some excerpts from my original tumblr blog, watchingtheclocktoronto2012.tumblr.com involving my reflections and reading on the economic aspects Christian Marclay’s The Clock. How was it created? Just how is it bought and sold? Who paid the living expenses of the artist and his assistants during the creation? Why is it shown in museums and […] →Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[36,48],"tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-3545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crystal-cabinets","category-viajes"],"episode_featured_image":false,"episode_player_image":"https:\/\/www.daveomeara.com\/home\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":[],"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/www.daveomeara.com\/home\/feed\/podcast\/david-brendan-omeara","embedCode":"

The Economics of The Clock,<\/em><\/a><\/blockquote>