George Daniels, a master watchmaker said that ‘Watchmaking has always been an art, and the mechanical watch is not obsolete’ (Clerhael, 2013). It could be suggested that, most people agree with this, because, on walking into the gallery, the delicate and beautiful clocks and watches impress the viewer by the beautiful design of the clocks. It could be agreed that those clocks and watches are the greatest art works in the world.
Compared with the other galleries in the British Museum, the clocks and watch gallery is a little small. It is arguable that, it is one of the most interesting gallery in British museum. It will spend you the whole afternoon to visit this gallery, you can take photos of all of the clocks and watches. It can be argued that when you visited the gallery you might feel exciting and happy, I never have this feeling when I visited other exhibition. It may be the first time you find something you are really interested in in a gallery.
There are two special clocks some people might be interested. One of clock is the Monument Carillon clock, by Isaac Habrecht in Strasbourg. It’s a beautiful mechanical clock and it still works. It have 400 years history. I really like the design of the clock, and the bells voice is very clear and melodious. The second one is the rolling ball clock, designed by Sir William Congreve, made by Santiago James Moore French in London. It is a very interesting clock, it uses the rolling ball to keep track of time, although arguably it is more ornamental than useful.
The Monument Carillon clock was the trigger in my animation, the starting point for the story, in my London A-Z project. The reason is because this clock have a long history and it still working. The vitality of this clock is very appropriate to be the trigger. Another reason is that the story of the animation need a trigger to turn back the time, the clock is good to connect with time. The Monument Carillon clock is more like the normal clock which most people know. So I choose this clock.
Ilya and Serge said that “But time has suddenly reappeared on all the frontiers of knowledge”(2020). The clocks are the used to mark the time. So it is important to make them correct and true in every detail. That is why most of people improve the clocks quickly. But when people want the clocks not just have the basic function, they also want to make the clocks get more beauty, more valuable to shown the standing of them. So they found the great clock makers, ask them use the gold and the valuable gem to make the clocks, because that, lots of precious clocks have been made. Not just the mater of the clocks, the greatest design is also important. And all of those mix together let those clocks become to the art works.
Before the machine clocks were invented, there are some other special way to know the time. The machine clocks until now someone still use them. In my opinion people can use it to display their imagination and the creation. A great and beautiful clock can be a great art work. The machine clocks are not only tools to mark the time, but also artworks, that could be compared to the great art works of Van Gogh.
The rolling ball clock at British Museum The Monument Carillon clock at British Museum
Bibliography
Clerizo, Michael. (2013), George Daniels: A Master Watchmaker & His Art. London: Thames & Hudson
Barbican Art Gallery. (1986), Art & time. London: Barbican Art Gallery