Timekeepers

~ ~ ~ All content Copyright 2003 on behalf of its creators; please obtain permission for anything besides private, noncommercial use ~ ~ ~

Photographer's notes: At first glance you might think it is a little after 6 pm, but in fact this clock face is rotated counterclockwise, and the time is 7:14 pm.

This is part of a Tom Otterness sculpture commissioned by the Times Square Hilton -- there are several other of his works scattered about the city, as shown in this map on his site.

Mr. Otterness's work is typically playful and sprawling -- there are many little bronze figures on the clock (a tiny one can be seen more clearly in Fig. 1), the marquee, and nearby facade. The work continues on through the Hilton's lobby and out the other entrance on 42nd Street, where there is another tilted clock, as well as one facing straight down.

The Rube first encountered Otterness's work in a memorable art show on the "old" 42nd street about 10 years ago, where the plastic letters of the porn theaters marquees were used for Haiku poems, and the metal gratings over the store windows painted fluorescent colors, among many other things. In the middle of the sidewalk was a very large penny, about the size of this clock, with little figures riding on it and pushing it. This penny the Rube has recently spotted in an office lobby in midtown.

There is so much signage on "New" 42nd (the redeveloped area between 7th and 8th Ave.) that it can be hard to pick out this clock (see In Context), let alone realize there is a hotel behind it.