TV Timer
/7
- TV Timer
- 1973
- Installation: video, b&w, sound; poster
- 15min, 11sec
This video installation is a joint work by Sanja Iveković and Dalibor Martinis and was produced in Graz for the three-country biennale “Trigon,” whose theme in 1973 was “Audiovisual Messages.” It revolves around the notion of time—not just as an abstract idea, but also as an essential aspect of a space/time universe. The artists shot fifteen 60-second clips at different times of day in order to provide information about particular times—such as the times at which particular video clips were to be broadcast on television. These clips expose time’s manipulation in light of the way in which they employ the very medium (time) that is supposed to guarantee their objectivity. The obviousness of the manipulation shown in these videos further exposes how television presents the appearance of being a source of “objective information.”
In the video installation, an electronic timer triggers the playback of each of these videos as an intervention in a daily broadcast of Austrian state television (ORF) at times corresponding precisely with those times that they purport to show.
For example: the clock in the window of the watchmaker’s shop was shot using a camera tilted by 90 degrees, from which perspective the clock—actually showing 3:25—appears to show 6:40. The employed timer triggers this segment at 6:40 p.m. in the ORF broadcast. In another of these clips, Sanja Iveković asks a passer-by what time it is; he glances at his watch and tells her 7:30, but she argues that it is 7:15. This particular video piece plays at 7:15 p.m., intervening in the broadcast of an evening news program. These interventions cover the “prime time” period between 6:30 and 8:00 p.m.
In the video installation, an electronic timer triggers the playback of each of these videos as an intervention in a daily broadcast of Austrian state television (ORF) at times corresponding precisely with those times that they purport to show.
For example: the clock in the window of the watchmaker’s shop was shot using a camera tilted by 90 degrees, from which perspective the clock—actually showing 3:25—appears to show 6:40. The employed timer triggers this segment at 6:40 p.m. in the ORF broadcast. In another of these clips, Sanja Iveković asks a passer-by what time it is; he glances at his watch and tells her 7:30, but she argues that it is 7:15. This particular video piece plays at 7:15 p.m., intervening in the broadcast of an evening news program. These interventions cover the “prime time” period between 6:30 and 8:00 p.m.