All That Mighty Heart

The imagined Central Office for Clocktime Expansion invite you to consider mechanical engineering as an antidote to a fast moving life where time is a commodity. 

Historian of technology Lewis Mumford wrote ‘the clock is not merely a means of keeping track of the hours, but of synchronising the actions of men… The clock, not the steam engine, is the key-machine of the modern industrial age’. 

Exploring the intertwined relationship between the clock and the steam engine helps shine a light on our ambivalent approach to modern technology. (Ben Russell, Science Museum, London) Taking mechanical engineering as its starting point, the film borrows from the graphics and instructional post war films. It reminds us of the power and beauty of engineering and mechanical movement. The film recaptures the nostalgia of the early days of film and surreptitiously describes the history of horology from pendulums to quartz and electricity.

Commissioned by The British Engineerium. The film, publication and associated events were supported by Arts Council England and The British Engineerium