Time and Observation: The History of the Clock and its Ornamentation

Time and Observation: The History of the Clock and its Ornamentation

 Observation and the human conception of time are two related concepts that have interacted across the history of human civilization. In simple terms, observation differs from perception as the ability to view activity or phenomenon without bias. The changes in human dynamisms have established significant spatial differences in architecture while sustaining the historical and cultural components of the people. One such changes are the clock, which has adopted different ornamentations with changes in time and human observation. Clocks in every spatial location they are located serve two purposes in informing the time and as an ornament object. Their ornamentation change develops as an architectural shift with time but also retains its other purpose, telling time. This essay is an analysis of the history of the clock; its ornamentation changes over time and how these changes tend to sustain its historical and cultural essence.

According to Daston, observation creates times^[1]. In this perspective, time is a measure derived from the view of different phenomena in the natural occurrence of matter. Across various fields of study, a specific period is regarded with the observations of relevant events that occurred during that period. In art, for instance, the observations made from the classical artistry are what differentiate the artists of the period from those in the neoclassical period or those from the age of realism. Specific features and conceptualization of particular phenomenon played crucial roles in such changes. Similarly, the perceptions of time can be observed in the spatial behaviors of humans, which changed the architectural elements across the times. Ornamentation is one such factor in architecture that has adopted changes and differing perspectives from humans and developers. Ornamentation develops as an adaptation to the change in human observations from as little objects as windows in a building to the entire structural look of a building or structures. For instance, the spatial behaviors in the late 18^th century and 19^th century established revival of Gothic windows in the Georgian architecture and developed as a modernist way of ornamenting while retaining historical and cultural elements of the past[2]. The modifications however developed as a result of the late baroque period which crossed across music, style, and architecture with architects such as Sanderson Miller (1716-80) Gothicizing existing structures[3]. This fusion of spatial change in time and observation develops in the history of the clock and its ornamentation within the changing societies, urban planning, and architecture while sustaining its history and previous culture.

Ornamentation and Architectural Ideologies

The concept of ornamentation develops as a subject of debate between the modernist and functionalist architecture, with Louis Sullivan and Adolf Loos’ insights shaping their opinions on ornamentation. In modern times, there is much agreement on the concepts of time, with science and technology. Time and space are the essential elements of architecture that shift with the changes occurring in the world. These two concepts were initially examined in modernist architecture by Siegfried Gideon in 1941^[4], a concept hugely adapted to date as established by Roaf and McGill^[5].

Every new age of human civilization presents its own “chaos of the contradictory tendencies”^[6], with changes in spatial behaviors, population, and technology observations prompting for shifts in how the architecture addresses such issues. The increasing global population required adjustments in how people went about dealing with space and time changes. In 1938 for instance, the global population stood at 2.3 billion while currently, the population stands at over 7.5 billion people^[7]. Although much of these new dynamics in architectural interaction with space and time underwent destructions in the Second World War, Giedion’s insights became crucial in the post-war period. They inspired the new dynamics of architecture in the modern and postmodern eras. While modernism has dominated the modern-day architecture by embracing minimalism, ornamentation has established functionalism within the changing dimensions of spatial environments.

The element of ornamentation develops as the major differential issue between the functionalist and the modernist ideologies of architecture. These differences can be found from differing perspectives on ornamentation by Adler Loos (1870-1933) and Louis Sullivan (1856-1924). Both are renowned architects who inspired designs in their period but adopted differing ideologies of architectural development and historical representation of such structures. Adler Loos is known widely for his essay, “Ornament and Crime” which criticized the element of ornamentation and spearheaded him within the modern movement of architecture[8]. Loos developed from the sociocultural climate of aestheticism in Vienna, which he later considered as an inauthentic to approach formalism and his works targeted to critique the works of Louis Sullivan and his growing architectural ideology of functionalism. Ornament and Crime critiqued the rate of cultural changes advocating for the need to minimize ornamentation since people had different cultural adaptations. In his work, he acknowledges the existence of stragglers whose reaction to cultural evolution is slower than the rest of the people, and thus architecture ought to preserve its beauty by minimizing its ornamentation changes.

Sullivan was an American architect who was fundamental in the rebuilding of Chicago after the great fires of 1880 and advocated for a unique form of American architecture. Regarded as a proto-modernist architect, Sullivan believed that ornamentation was like plants and ought to respond to its own environment logically, naturally, and politically. The success of Sullivan’s ideological influence in the United States was the biggest motivation for Adolf Loos’ critique citing that the American society lacked “stragglers,” but their model was inapplicable in other regions[9]. Loos believed that limitation of ornamentations in an object established its own beauty and this was a sign of civilization and lucid thinking[10]. Both ideologies from Sullivan and Loos inspired architecture and ornamentation over the past century, and one such feature is visible in the historical development of clocks.

History of Clocks

The history of clocks dates back to ancient Egypt when sundial ‘clocks’ were developed in 8^th Century BCE. Typically referred to as a shadow clock, they evolved along time and in their usage until the first mechanical clock was designed late in the thirteenth century. There exists a contradictory description of existent clocks before that period on their mechanisms of operation, but De Vick’s clock is the earliest documented clock to be classified as a mechanical clock[11]. This was developed between 1364 and 1370 and paved the way for more advancements in the mechanical perspective of the clock. In the United Kingdom, the element of time and public clocks was different from one city to another until in the 1840s when plans for the construction of Elizabeth Clock Tower were made, as part of Charles Barry’s architectural plan[12]. As late as the 1880s, most public clocks in the country kept poor time because their design was to serve the architectural purpose rather than the purpose of keeping time. By the beginning of the 20^th century, the advancements in clocks establish ornamentation with design adopting the changing environments and cultures across the world.

Ornamentation of Clocks in the United Kingdom

Throughout the clock history, public clocks were usually erected in public spaces and the clock towers across different cities of the United Kingdom. The growing wave of organic ornamentation and functionalist architecture inspired a new form of clocks in 1903, which diffused across the UK and the entire world. Edinburgh Floral clock was the first flower clock to be developed and remains a popular attraction in Scotland. The idea of floral clocks developed from Carl Linnaeus in 1751 and evolved as a literal interpretation of time and flowers as decorative objects[13]. The ornamentation of the idea has evolved since 1903 to other parts of the world as organic ornamentation of clock architecture most common in parks and gardens. Within the ideology of ornamentation by Louis Sullivan, floral clocks are suitable ornaments for such organic places developing within the environment.

Edinburgh Floral Clock (Source: edinburghlive.co.uk).

The ornamentation of clocks over the years has significantly shifted not only in the decorative ornamentation but also in the mechanical and ideological features. The Long Now Clock is a project currently under development to develop a 10,000 years clock with the capability of showing time beyond the current scope of the typical clocks. Danny Mills grew the idea, and its first prototype was unveiled on the eve of the new millennia in Presidio, San Francisco, and currently resides at the London Science Museum[14]. Upon completion, the clocks will be erected in public places and establish not just the time of the day but time within a 10,000-year framework. This illustrates a shift in architectural developments by shifting the scope of time and integrating it with the spatial elements in the public space.

 

 

Assembly of the Long Now Clock (Source: longnow.org)

Technology is a critical factor of every dynamism change in the digital age. Dyugu in the Time Perception in Relation to Architectural Space offers the transformation in time notification from the natural occasions to the modern-day devices such as clocks, mobile phones, and press as the indicators of dynamic relations between time and spatial change^[15]. Technology is one feature that has gradually changed with time, and Kacar develops an understanding of time indicators in both personal and public dimensions. A public clock is a mechanical tool used to “order the physical flow in both public and private space” while technology gadgets such as a mobile phone are capable not only to indicate time but also make time through observation^[16]. The mobile phone is capable of establishing a schedule through calendar, clock and alarm tools and thus playing the role of observation as a way of life^[17]. Technology is an element without limitations of scope, and the transformation of clocks as indicators of time within the digital age establishes ornamentation as a natural and logic response to environmental changes.

 

“The Clock” Film by Christian Marclay (Source: Tate.org)

From the general perspective, the United Kingdom has attempted to retain the traditional architectural approaches, particularly on clock towers and their relevance to the cities and towns of their location. However, the spatial changes over time with technology and social changes have limited their original purpose to the society, such as personal relation with time. In 2010, Christian Marclay developed a 24-hour clock film known as “The Clock,” an art installation consisting of several film excerpts compilation, creating a 24-hour clock. The work of art serves more than to tell time, but by creating a loop to establish human relationships with time and a connection, people share in a particular period [18]. Ornamentation is a consistently shifting element of human relation to change in time and spatial behavior. No matter how much we perceive the architectural ideology of modernism and refute cultural changes, more significant changes tend to occur without our knowledge.

 

 

Bibliography

“Five Ways Christian Marclay’S The Clock Does More Than Just Tell The Time – List | Tate.” 2019. Tate. Accessed December 8. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/lists/five-ways-christian-marclays-clock-does-more-just-tell-time.

“Introduction – 10,000 Year Clock – The Long Now”. 2019. Longnow.Org. Accessed December 8. http://longnow.org/clock/.

Andersen, Phyllis. “Floral Clocks, Carpet Beds, and the Ornamentation of Public Parks.” Arnoldia 75, no. 1 (2017): 26-35.

Daston, Lorraine. Observation as a way of life: time, attention, allegory; the Hans Rausing lecture 2010 Uppsala University. Uppsala universitet, 2011.

Furján, Hélène. “Dressing down: Adolf Loos and the politics of ornament.” The Journal of Architecture 8, no. 1 (2003): 115-130.

Kaçar, A. Duygu. “Time perception in relation to architectural space.” In Proceedings of the 2nd Scottish Conference for Postgraduate Researchers of the Built and Natural Environment (PRoBE). 2005.

Lindfield, Peter. Georgian Gothic: Medievalist Architecture, Furniture and Interiors, 1730-1840. Vol. 8. Boydell & Brewer, 2016.

Loos, Adolf. Ornament and Crime: Selected essays. Ariadne Press, 1998.

Usher, Abbott Payson. A history of mechanical inventions: revised edition. Courier Corporation, 2013.

Vasilski, Dragana. “FORMAL SILENCE OF ADOLF LOOS.”

Vieira, Ryan A. Time and Politics: Parliament and the Culture of Modernity in Britain and the British World. Oxford University Press, USA, 2015.

[1] Daston Lorraine, Observation as a Way of Life, p.7

[2] Peter Lindfield, Georgian Gothic: Medieval Architecture, Furniture and Interiors,1730-1840, p.26

[3] Ibid p.86

[4] Giedion Siegfried, Space, Time, and Architecture: The Growth of a New Tradition.

[5] Roaf & McGill, Place, Time and Architecture, p.269

[6] Ibid

[7] Ibid

[8] Helene Furjan, Dressing Down: Adolf Loos and the Politics of Ornament, p.3

[9] Adolf Loos, Ornament and Crime, p.21

[10] Dragan Vasilski, Formal Silence of Adolf Loos, p.5

[11]Abott  Usher, A History of Mechanical Inventions, p.201

[12] Ryan A.Vieira, Time and Politics: Parliament and the Culture of Modernity in Britain and the British World,  p.64

[13] Phyllis Andersen, Floral Clocks, Carpet Beds, and the Ornamentation of Public Parks,  p.30

[14] “Introduction – 10,000 Year Clock – The Long Now”. 2019. Longnow.Org. Accessed December 8. http://longnow.org/clock/.

[15] Duygu Kacar, Time Perception in Relation to Architectural Space, p.37

[16] Ibid, p36-37.

 

[17] Daston, p16

[18]“Five Ways Christian Marclay’S The Clock Does More Than Just Tell The Time – List | Tate.” 2019. Tate. Accessed December 8. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/lists/five-ways-christian-marclays-clock-does-more-just-tell-time.