Most people can tell the time, but can they tell it differently? The Paris-based graphic designer and co-founder of mire studio, Benoit Böhnke, combines visual experimentation with coding practices in his exhibition project 12:12, which attempts to visualise time in alternative fashions. Questioning the clock, an object that is nearly as old as time itself, various interpretations of how time looks, how it feels and how it sounds are presented through twelve digital projects, whilst a second series features guest designers and artists showcasing their own takes on time.
Exploring the relationship between time and technology, 12:12 is beautiful and inventive. Rooted in typographic and chromatic experimentation, two central components of Benoit’s design practice, alternative clocks and mesmerising animations explore the colour, motion and form of time-telling. “The history of time-measurement tools is rich and deeply connected to technological developments,” says Benoit. “In the specific context of graphic and digital design, John Maeda’s 12 O’Clocks, from 1996, remains a key milestone, and 12:12 positions itself as a continuation of this lineage.” As well as that, Christian Marclay’s The Clock plays a great role – a 24-hour montage consisting of thousands of film and television clips depicting clocks and other references to time, synchronised to the local time. Benoit carries the ongoing fascination with how time exists in our visual culture and continues challenging it.