![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/94cae56d3e3f2deb2e06d8429c2796d2246ccc7a862b12b3de06f3ba9f37e530/01_like_clocks.jpg)
![Portrait of Rene Descartes, Oil and colored pencil](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/edece0bea6cad26285283595fae88393dac1940bd11f90cac09f258cbcfaf959/02_like_clocks.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/afa2f40a60b2dbe2a8d9706076a7ea1521ba197b8d7dee9e3b9c7be7baa6bc2a/03_like_clocks.jpg)
![In-Animate Objects](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/fdd7f4a4b29dcce1e4ce5f6fa472f1abcac73afd889892da06e16f50a6a32861/04_like_clocks.jpg)
![Our Lady of Tears (Lacrimosa Lagomorpha), Sculpted clay rabbit with fake tears](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/79ab543cb223284eccda6c08bf94989c3922ffd9c380f740b5c9db2992349dd2/05_like_clocks.jpg)
![Perpetual Milking Machine, Wood, gears, paint. When the crank in the back is turned, the milk jugs fill with milk, and the head bobs up and down.](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/efdbf35bb61ce8b07c64424326a21de4c46029333c431cf6c8e9012a5e6aeba4/06_like_clocks.jpg)
![Electric Sheep Clock (Counting Sheep Dream Clock),Clock parts, broken clock motor, watercolor on paper](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5b118a4ec792aedeaed054282e9df419c4c5aba13354740b22ae0a0835ac9d88/07_like_clocks.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/27c30986f47b6a1e9f97fc63ac39f34deed89db59b32b083729a870670660e47/08_like_clocks.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/34f443d079d599cbb6604e82be154529a968921abcc82e24820d6f3e68e05be4/09_like_clocks.jpg)
![Cover for a fake comparative biology textbook, wall text](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1da598f562e3a1f6d885bad1bb1e5706fd7b284e3f5e09ffd8e61d1006ff06d9/10_like_clocks.jpg)
![Series of illustrations from The Velveteen Rabbit, printed text, found decorative plate with handmade illustration, watercolor and ink on paper](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d017eaea8c001fe913d725577a556d66dcff64162d7f2b4c99f38ec89f58fe6e/18_like_clocks.jpg)
![Found plate with handmade illustration](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f5211d25ef31e42d6fbbe8ead663447b135bef9204b6dea230c7277b6314554c/11_like_clocks.jpg)
![Watercolor and ink on paper](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8e3d921fc5ea86767ac41ac42cd1b6995d3da32559ad7f0a3167537c61a0e5b1/12_like_clocks.jpg)
![2.5 minute video projected on the inside of vintage radio](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/95fa053bec80b040a9f290bdcda46e6e9f4dfb373c47aafd13d0877f2ca67092/13_like_clocks.jpg)
![Stills from video, descriptions and credits: Animal Locomotion, Eadweard Muybridge, 1887 Like a scientist dissecting motion itself, Eadweard Muybridge used multiple cameras to capture a rapid succession of still images of moving animals and people. Combined, the photographs are like flip-books–forerunners of motion pictures that become mechanical, ghostly depictions of movement. Bambi, Disney, 1942 Known as one of the most heart-wrenching scenes in animation history, the death of Bambi’s mother frequently brings audience members to tears.](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a1838bbd5d3d63507aa5c4a7d623b713e7d8ff4df566825dd3fcfd918a2dbf82/14_like_clocks.jpg)
![Stills from video, descriptions and credits: Pavlov’s dogs, Illustration of Pavlov’s famous classical conditioning experiement, Unknown originA Clockwork Orange, Stanley Kubrick, 1971Like Alex’s unblinking eye with its iconic fake eye-lashes, Stanley Kubrick’s camera does not shy away from scenes of Alex and his friends committing acts of gratuitous, hedonistic violence. Immediately following this icy orgy of sadism, however, the film takes a turn, and Alex is caught and subjected to possibly equally disturbing treatment to cure him of his violent tendencies. His eyes, held open, watch horrid acts as nauseating injections and painful stimuli classically condition him to develop an aversion to violence. Anthony Burgess, author of the book on which the movie is based, on the title: ”A person (or creature) who can only perform good or evil is “a clockwork orange – meaning that he has the appearance of an organism lovely with colour and juice, but is in fact only a clockwork toy to be wound up by God or the Devil; or the almighty state.”](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/632417ffad67f382e812b83f33b1148e231310a986731a816474842b1b85cf0d/15_like_clocks.jpg)
![Stills from video, descriptions and credits: Babe, 1995, Chris Noonan (director) Ferdinand the duck explains his plan to avoid being eaten for Christmas dinner to Babe the pig. Ferdinand astutely observes that animals that are useful are not eaten, so Ferdinand acts as a rooster and delivers the morning wake-up call. When a mechanical alarm clock threatens Ferdinand’s plan for survival, he must destroy it so that he can continue to be a living clock. My Cousin Vinny, 1992, Jonathan Lynn (director) The rhythms of the body are often described as the “biological clock.” Humans are said to have biological clocks, while animals are sometimes said to be biological clocks.](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/298969fb3aa5f58be67b92bfc554c922759b779cf53ddfd9991a29a06a61e229/16_like_clocks.jpg)
![Stills from video, descriptions and credits: Bladerunner (based on the novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” by Philip K. Dick), 1982, Ridley Scott. Because almost all animals were destroyed before the time of the novel, living animals are a precious luxury, and people aspire to own one. Most settle for electric, false animals. In this fictional world, even mechanical animals are prized. The story follows bounty-hunter Rick Deckard, who is charged with the task of finding and destroying androids by administering a verbal test to determine whether a person in an android or not. The test uses empathy responses to emotional questions, distinguishing humans partially on the basis of their empathy toward animals, and the unconscious movement of their eyes. Near the end of the film, one android shows an unexpected moment of emotion before his pre-determined death.](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c2696e453b4f8683e38462128821a41ba0ea69fd5cbff31c1c3ebd94b48e5ce8/17_like_clocks.jpg)
Like Clocks
2012This project traces instances of Descartes infamous "clockwork metaphor" used to categorize animals as unfeeling automata or machines where it intersects with ideas of tears and crying. Concerned with delineating between animal, human, and machine, tears and crying seem of offer a possible mark of identity, but they can be interpreted as an indicator of emotion, or as a biological (mechanical) response to painful stimuli. The project includes "In-Animate" toys (a Perpetual Milking Machine and Crying Virgin Mary rabbit), bottles of tears, quotes, pages from The Velveteen Rabbit, and a loop of video excerpts from films such as Bambi, Clockwork Orange, Babe, and Bladerunner.
Colored pencil, ink, and watercolor on paper; alarm clock; vintage radio with projected video (approx. 2.5 min); clock motor; sculpted clay rabbit with fake tears; laboratory jars; book; framed Velveteen Rabbit illustrations; ceramic plate; vinyl wall text
Photos: Kiley Reed Black