Four days a year and anything is possible right now. You have an idea of how things will go – what you expect, what will be the challenge – but you use archival materials. Memory and knowledge, educated guesses. “2025 will be very difficult for me,” said a friend one night, before ticking off all the things he had to do this year: taking his business to a new stage, thinking of moving. To me, these things sound interesting, interesting — the interesting content of someone else’s life.
We’re all sitting here with the same year’s days in front of us now, the same calendar. What activities and events will we fulfill? How will we greet the story of our days? What will we explain to you?
I recently saw Christian Marclay’s installation “The Clock” at MoMA. It’s a 24-hour montage of thousands of clips from movies and shows, each with a clock, clock, dialogue line or other clock face. The film is synchronized in real time, so every scene shows the time you’re watching, making “Clock” a working clock in itself. You’re watching a movie, but you’re also watching the clock, for hours on end.
The museum remained open for 24 hours on 21 Dec. with a special solstice show called “The Clock,” from 7pm Saturday to 7pm Sunday. On my way there on Saturday night, I found myself in a hurry: It was 8 o’clock at night, I was late! But then I stopped. It didn’t matter when I arrived. People came and went during the inspection throughout the night and into the next day. Here is an invitation to rethink the way I thought about time. “Clock,” like real time, is not a game with a beginning and an end. It happens whether you are there or not. You either appear or you don’t. You either pay attention or you don’t. You can’t do wrong.
Sitting in the audience after three, four, five hours and somehow my attention did not waver, I considered this proposal again. Maybe you can do it wrong. Should I pay attention to the plot of each clip, characters and dialogue, or should I pay attention to the clocks? 11:22, 11:23 , did I miss the time on the screen showing 11:24 because I was trying to figure out what movie that last scene was from? (I found out later that there was an entire wiki dedicated to “The Clock” where each clip appears — 11:24 includes scenes from “Shanghai Knights,” “Malice in Wonderland” and “Se7en.”) Can you make the time wrong , paying more attention to its passing, or not enough?
“The Clock” forces you to reflect on time, how we turn the successive scenes of our lives into a narrative, create cause and effect for everything that happens, assume that everything has a meaning and then decide whether that meaning is right or wrong. We are artists and creators of our lives, exploring the day or year ahead and trying to figure out what story to tell. Will this be a good year? Will it be difficult? Who decides?
I sat on the “Watch” until I started to feel drowsy and dreamed of another time on Sunday morning. Marclay supports taking a nap during a movie: “That’s what you have to do — stop sucking it and feel like you’re a part of this thing,” he tells co-star Marc Tracy. If I had remembered that, I would have stayed longer. Instead I stumbled in the early morning hours of the first day of winter into Midtown Manhattan.
That happened two weeks ago. Over time, the sun rose and set 13 times, one year ended and another began. I’ve been trying to pay attention to time, but not too closely, to see it pass without getting too attached. This year is spread out before us, many pencils have been drawn but nothing is certain. It may be difficult, as my friend predicted himself. And, in the words of a morning reader who wrote to give their best advice – the question mark for me is what makes this good advice, as if the idea that things are not bad is a revelation – “Could it be good?”
To find out more
CULTURE WEEK
Film and TV
CULTURAL CALENDAR
🏆 Golden Globes (Sunday): The Globes, once the glamorous, silly cousin to the more difficult Oscars, are being held back for life after a series of ethical, financial and diversity scandals. The show has a new owner (the Hollywood Foreign Press Association is gone), a diverse polling place and a new network. But will those changes — and the list of A-list nominees — be enough to attract viewers? The event is tomorrow night on CBS and Paramount+.
RECIPE OF THE WEEK
Divide the pea soup
All of a sudden the holidays are over, and the happy glow of December has been replaced by the cool and quiet days of January. That means it’s time to get out your big pot and whip up a batch of Ali Slagle’s pea soup. Her hearty, aromatic recipe is packed with three different alliums (leeks, onions and garlic) as well as carrots and thyme, all of which thicken the thick broth, adding sweetness and depth. Many different pea soups call for ham or bacon, and you can use one in Ali’s versatile version, or leave the meat out and sprinkle with smoked paprika. Either way, make sure to add a squeeze of lemon at the end to brighten everything up.
REAL ESTATE
The Hunt: In Harlem, two friends get together to buy a row house. Which one do they choose? Play our game.
What you get for $1.3 million: Queen Anne House in Denver; a top-floor unit in a 1916 condominium building in Chicago; or ranch-style house 2020 in Austin, Texas.
Importance of value: Saffron is difficult to harvest. But in the US, small farmers and home growers grow spices for profit, or just for fun.
Plato’s romance with AI clones: Experts share their predictions for the future of dating.
Not just leggings: Some women’s clothing is becoming looser and more comfortable.
Want a Scotch?: Luxury brands use alcohol and treats to keep customers engaged.
ADVICE FROM WIRECUTTER
The (easy) way to clean your fridge
Chances are your fridge is full, Tetris style, with leftover leaks from November. To clean the mess, follow this advice: Mentally break your refrigerator down into small parts that you can do in five-minute chunks — leaving the door open is no longer good. Then, set a timer and clean each part, slice by slice, giving your refrigerator at least 20 minutes to return to center temperature. You can do it all in a day if you want, but for me, the really fun thing about this method is that it turns a difficult task into something easy to do in a few days. – Rachel Wharton
New York Rangers vs. Washington Capitals, NHL: As we approach the midway point of the NHL season, the Capitals are a team to watch. They are atop the Eastern Conference and have the No. 1 spot in The Athletic’s latest power rankings. And Alex Ovechkin, in his 20th season in Washington, has a chance to surpass Wayne Gretzky’s all-time scoring record. Tonight at 12pm Eastern on ABC.
NOW IT’S TIME TO PLAY
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