'The Clock Doesn’t Care' is a collaborative video piece by Mona Ayyash that serves as a study of repetitive non-functional movements.
The Clock Doesn’t Care was commissioned as part of the ‘Artistic Development
Program 2024’ by 421 Arts Campus in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Program 2024’ by 421 Arts Campus in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Selected through an open call, a group of dancers, actors, and performance artists
contributed to the work by filming themselves responding to movement prompts,
encouraging them to consider what ‘doing nothing’ looks like. The collaborators were
asked to think of their frame as a photograph, exploring light, shadow, color, and form
within their composition. The group committed to creating videos over a period of ten
weeks. They met regularly to review the footage together, shaping how they responded
to prompts over time. Throughout the sessions, the group began to form a collective
visual language that slowly appears in the piece.
Small gestures from the footage received from the collaborators are extracted to
highlight mundane movements. The clips are layered one over another or side by side,
creating new compositions as they constantly change. Through this editing style and
approach, a series of visuals without a clear or linear narrative emerges, allowing
audiences to view the work without relying on chronological order.
contributed to the work by filming themselves responding to movement prompts,
encouraging them to consider what ‘doing nothing’ looks like. The collaborators were
asked to think of their frame as a photograph, exploring light, shadow, color, and form
within their composition. The group committed to creating videos over a period of ten
weeks. They met regularly to review the footage together, shaping how they responded
to prompts over time. Throughout the sessions, the group began to form a collective
visual language that slowly appears in the piece.
Small gestures from the footage received from the collaborators are extracted to
highlight mundane movements. The clips are layered one over another or side by side,
creating new compositions as they constantly change. Through this editing style and
approach, a series of visuals without a clear or linear narrative emerges, allowing
audiences to view the work without relying on chronological order.
The work challenges conventional notions of productivity and the perception of time. It
questions the tension between passing time and wasting time. The exhibition’s title, The
Clock Doesn’t Care, emphasizes time’s indifference to individual pursuits, inviting
viewers to engage with boredom, and to let time pass.
questions the tension between passing time and wasting time. The exhibition’s title, The
Clock Doesn’t Care, emphasizes time’s indifference to individual pursuits, inviting
viewers to engage with boredom, and to let time pass.
Mona would like to thank her collaborators: Inês de Almeida, Dana Amer, Ahmed
Elsaghier, Ralph Kabalan, Dalia Khalife, Sara Masinaei, Mohsen Mohi, Vighnesh
Prasad, and Alina Vishnevskaia.
Elsaghier, Ralph Kabalan, Dalia Khalife, Sara Masinaei, Mohsen Mohi, Vighnesh
Prasad, and Alina Vishnevskaia.
