TV Timer

Sanja Iveković/Dalibor Martinis

TV Timer, 1973

Artwork text

The work deals with the notion of time, not just as an abstract idea but as an unquestionable particle of a space/time universe. Structurally, the video is conceived as a series of 15 short videos each one minute in duration. The short videos are shot at different times of the day with the intention of conveying information about a precise time, i. e., the broadcasting time of a particular video. In this way, the videos expose time manipulation by using the same medium. This is meant to guarantee their objectivity. The visibility of the manipulation depicted in the video pieces thus deconstructs television as a source of seemingly “objective information.” In the installation, the screening of the videos was controlled by an electronic timer which triggered the playback of each piece as an intervention in a daily broadcast of the TV (ORF) program at a time corresponding exactly with the time stated in the video. For example: The clock at the watchmaker’s shop window is shot with the camera positioned at an angle of 90 degrees, so that the clock, originally showing 3;25 p.m., now seems to show 6;40 p.m. The timer played this segment every day at 6:40 p.m. The time period covered with the TV Timer is ”TV prime time” from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.” (Sanja Ivekovic/Dalibor Martinis)