Matt Irie & Dominick Talvacchio
One Clock, 2006
Microcontroller, 32,768-Hz crystal, binary
counter, integrated circuits, circuit board,
wire, 7-segment LED displays, LED bulbs,
steel


Each tick of the seconds digit is
programmed to be randomly either a
little slow or a little fast, with several
options for the duration of a
"second." In the current version of
the clock, for example, the ticks
happen at intervals of 0.7, 0.8, 1.2,
or 1.3 seconds. Because these
random values are (1) equally likely
to be chosen and (2) symmetric
about one second, in the long run
the clock tells the "correct" time for
all intents and purposes even though
it never actually tells the correct
time. The clock can be said to move
in and out of ordinary time, defining
the contours of a strange and slippery
but in some ways more real passage of
time.