The Clock

A meditation on social norms, oppression, division, control, and the myth of gender.

A double-faced platform clock, stripped of its numbers. On one side, only the hour hand remains. On the other, only the minute hand. In this altered state, The Clock becomes a study in division — not of time, but of identity.

Drawing from their lived experience as a non-binary person, the artist reframes a utilitarian object to expose the dangers of categorising human traits as exclusively “masculine” or “feminine.” Just as hours and minutes are inseparable in our experience of time, so too are the qualities we assign to gender — tenderness, resilience, sensitivity, strength — inherently human, not oppositional.

The Clock unpicks the mechanisms by which binaries are naturalised. Its form evokes precision, structure, control — yet the modification renders it functionless. In its dysfunction, it speaks. A critique not just of gender norms, but of the quiet instruments through which society is manipulated and controlled. And if it’s about control, who benefits?

Discover more about the art piece here: https://art.alexandrur.com/the-clock/