Austin's Burning Clock

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By Luke Iseman
Posted 2009/01/01 @ 10:52 am
Category Art & Design, Home

Last night, Austin had a beautiful, community-grown New Years Eve celebration. Austin Bike Zoo, ArcAttack!, and others came out with improvements to their already-great shows, and the new star was a working, 34-foot wooden clock tower. Filled with resolutions, it later became a work of fire art. Here’s my favorite slideshow, via zAdventure on Flickr:

Some (possibly dubious) reports of minor injuries aside, this was the best New Year’s art I’ve seen. Thanks to Community Art Makers for a breathtaking project! If you’ve got photos from last night in Austin (or any other great New Year’s art), please link to them in the comments.

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5 Responses to Austin's Burning Clock

Stefan on January 1st, 2009 at 7:53 pm said:

looks nice but somehow i think it’s too decadent to build something like that just to destroy it again. beh

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figgalicous.myopenid.com on January 1st, 2009 at 9:30 pm said:

Sad to see it go

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Patrick on January 1st, 2009 at 9:38 pm said:

And I was stuck at home with a cold, when I coulda been out taking pictures of stuff like this. Dammit.

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Princess on January 2nd, 2009 at 2:17 pm said:

It’s not about “decadence”, it’s about temporary art, community and shared experience. So much of art is trapped up in the ego of the artists, another material possession to be kept and held on to. This is about letting go, even of something that took thousands of man hours and about $15,000. (With the estimates of 90,000 spectators I heard from the news, that works out to 16.666 CENTS a person).

Furthermore, the Resolution Clock wasn’t build to last, it was CNC cut plywood and untreated lumber. It would decay over a few days, get tagged by spraypaint and be an eyesore and a safety hazard in a few months.

Letting the Resolution Clock go the way it did let us all enjoy its passing instead of watching it decay into ugliness. Hopefully, it also inspired the thousands of people (especially the children) who will age and grow with this experience in their minds.

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monk on January 2nd, 2009 at 3:27 pm said:

It’s like a mandala… hours and hours of loving work and detailed refinement, all washed away with the swipe of a hand. It’s a beautiful reminder of the cycle of life, of being born, living, and then death. We could leave the canvas blank, but what a rich and wonderful sharing to paint a beautiful mandala, celebrate it’s existence, and then enjoy it’s passing.

A beautiful lesson in impermanence, and in letting go. Also a great opportunity to share something amazing with the world, to enrich other’s lives through what we’re able to give.

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