Michael Bell-Smith
American (b. 1978)
Waves Clock
2012
Custom software
Museum purchase with funds donated by Hazel and William Hough
2013.12
Waves Clock is a projection generated by a custom software program, and references the format of a desktop screensaver. The images of bright blue ocean waves and generic white analog clock each address the cycles of time–both natural and mechanical–but are visually disjointed to an almost comical degree.
The rolling waves hint at Romantic landscape painting, but the banality of the clock undermines any sublime effect. It is difficult to focus on either one of these images without being distracted by the other–a fitting reflection on our media-saturated times.
More works of art in the category: American
96 works of art
See all
Other ways to explore the collection
-
Tags See all
- Abstract (23)
- Abstract Expressionism (4)
- Akan (1)
- Allegory (4)
- American (4)
- Americana (1)
- Amphora (1)
- Animals (33)
- Antiquites (15)
- Apulian (4)
- Architecture (1)
- Art Deco (1)
- Art Nouveau (3)
- Ashanti (4)
- Ashcan School (3)
- Austrian (2)
- Bamileke (1)
- Beading (1)
- Beaker (1)
- Belgian (2)
- Book Club (1)
- British (17)
- Ceramic (46)
- Chalice (1)
- Children (12)
- Chinese (5)
- Chocolate (1)
- City (7)
- Cloisonne (1)
- Cochiti (1)
- Coffee Pot (1)
- Contemporary (12)
- Costa Rica (1)
- Couples (13)
- Dan (1)
- Dan-Ngere (1)
- Death (9)
- Decorative Arts (29)
- Dogs (4)
- Drawing (6)
- Dutch (6)
- Edo Period (4)
- Egypt (1)
- Eighteenth Century (21)
- Eleventh Century (1)
- Exhibition Opening (1)
- Expressionism (1)
- Figure (147)
- Fishing (2)
- Flemish (4)
- Florida (2)
- Flowers (15)
- Folk Art (7)
- Food (1)
- Fourteenth Century (4)
- French (35)
- Fruit (1)
- Furniture (7)
- Genre (4)
- Georgian Era (1)
- German (4)
- Glass (11)
- Gold (2)
- Greek (4)
- Han Dynasty (2)
- Hopi (1)
- Hudson River School (3)
- Hungarian (2)
- Hydria (2)
- Igala (1)
- Incensario (1)
- Indian (11)
- Italian (8)
- Ivory Coast (1)
- Japanese (13)
- Kamba (1)
- Kano School (1)
- Korean (2)
- Koryo Dynasty (2)
- Krater (3)
- Kuyu (1)
- Landscape (1)
- Landscapes (38)
- Louis XV (1)
- Mask (8)
- Mayan (2)
- Meiji (2)
- Men (53)
- Mende (1)
- Metal (2)
- Mexican (10)
- Ming Dynasty (1)
- Mixed Media (6)
- Moon (3)
- Moonlight (3)
- Mythological (6)
- Native American (5)
- Nature (3)
- New York (3)
- New York School (2)
- Nigerian (2)
- Nineteenth Century (78)
- Ninth Century (1)
- Nude (8)
- Nupe (1)
- Orientalism (1)
- Painting (125)
- Panama (1)
- Pendant (1)
- Pende (1)
- Peruvian (1)
- Portraits (21)
- Qing Dynasty (1)
- Relief (13)
- Religious (28)
- Renaissance (1)
- Rococo (1)
- Roman (2)
- Romanticism (2)
- Ruins (1)
- Russian (1)
- San Ildefonso (2)
- Scientific (1)
- Scottish (1)
- Screen (3)
- Scroll (3)
- Sculpture (53)
- Seascapes (9)
- Self-portrait (1)
- Seventeenth Century (17)
- Silver (10)
- Sixteenth Century (8)
- Sixth Century (1)
- Soldier (4)
- Spanish (4)
- Still Life (9)
- Studio Glass (5)
- Sui Dynasty (1)
- Swiss (1)
- Tea (2)
- Teapot (1)
- Tenth Century (3)
- Thai (2)
- Tibet (3)
- Twelfth Century (1)
- Twentieth Century (114)
- Vanitas (1)
- Vase (9)
- Victorian (1)
- Victorian Era (1)
- Video (3)
- Washington Color School (1)
- West Africa (1)
- Women (66)
- Works on Paper (17)
- Yoruba (4)
- Zuni (1)