BrokenFaces series
R(ust)
Unique and
handmade clocks made with recycled metal. A philosophical view on
time in these series, where transience is visible through the
influence of weather and the absolute arbritrariness handling
of the metal. Making these clocks demands lots of handicraft:
from searching on site to getting them to the right size, polishing
the hands, determining the balance and fixating the quartz
element.
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Finding
the raw material is fun, putting it together is even more fun.
Blank, coloured or rusted surfaces, cutting
up bigger pieces, or welding smaller pieces together
into bigger pieces.
BrokenFaces: an art concept were old time becomes
the present. There is more on this on Instagram.
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Slideshow BrokenFaces 'Rust in
Series'
The origin of BrokenFaces: series
W(atch). The first model (obsolete now).
Watch faces ‘with a
history’ were photographed and printed on Innova photo
paper.
They were then carefully pasted onto museum cardboard.
Both the cardboard and the glue were acid free to prevent
damage to the photo.
They were then given a new quartz clock with sweeping
second and were placed
in a rim of brushed stainless steel covered with a glass plate.
All models had the same case and hands, are 30 cm diameter and
5 cm deep.
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Each clock
was individually hand crafted and only 15 pieces of each model
were produced.
The clocks were numbered and if the model was sold out,
they would remain sold out forever.
The BrokenFaces themselves came from used pocket watches or
wrist watches,
some of which are no larger than 18 mm in diameter, that are often
decades old.
The
person behind BrokenFaces series model W(atch) is photographer
and video maker Ruben Koerhuis from
Voorburg. A
few years ago, curious about the profession of a clock
maker, Ruben did a photo shoot at a clock makers
shop and
came across a box of old, discarded watches.
This is when the idea of giving the watches a new life was planted
– the past time can become the present
time. And, as is always the case with ideas, some
get dropped but those that remain are done with much dedication and
pleasure. This model fathered all the other -more artistic-
series.
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