‘Art is how we decorate space: Music is how we decorate time.’—Jean-Michael Basquiat.
This famous line from Basquiat provides one of the quotable or simplified definitions of art and music, drawing a neat division between the tangible and intangible forms of creative expression. Yet, there are certainly works that encompass the two, and the Ziminghong showcased in the Science Museum’s new Clockwork Treasures exhibition may be the best I’ve encountered to date.
Zimingzhong are mechanical and musical clocks primarily dating from the Qianlong Dynasty (18th century) that are both ostentatious and alluring in their design. They are complex works of art that rival all other timepieces in terms of intricacy and aesthetic ambition. The twenty-three Zimingzhong on display as part of the exhibition are on loan from the Imperial Palace Museum in China, appearing together for the first time in the United Kingdom.
As a collection, they highlight an interesting aspect of cultural exchange between Britain and China in the 18th century, as clocks were created and traded between the two countries, and they reflect the iconography, music, and craftsmanship of both cultures.
© Science Museum Group
Each Zimingzhong or clock combines ornate decoration with sophisticated mechanical technology and music, resulting in objects that decorate space and time while also marking its passing. Literally translated, Zimingzhong means ‘bells that ring themselves’, and the tunes within them range from light melodies to popular European or Chinese songs from the period.
Although you are not able to witness the mechanical marvel of these clocks in motion, visitors can hear excerpts of the clocks’ music during the exhibition as well as have a go on the interactive mechanical reproductions. Beyond the exhibition, the science museum has also commissioned several artists to create cross-cultural interpretations of historic clocks to increase public engagement with these magnificent artefacts.
One artist helping to bring the musical ideas of the Ziminzhong to life is Leo Geyer, a composer and Artistic Director of Constella Music. Geyer has composed over a hundred works and has an established reputation for his cross-disciplinary collaborations and reimaginings, which creatively engage with the music of the past.
For this new work, his specific inspiration was the Countryside Scene Clock. A unique copper-plated Zimingzhong from around 1770 which boasts several complex rotating elements including a windmill, spinning ducks, moving boats, and even a barking dog!
With this as inspiration, Geyer created ‘A Clock through Time’, which interprets the Countryside Scene Clock’s original melody through the lens of six famous composers. The piece begins with a relatively pure iteration of the clock’s original tune with a guzheng, a type of traditional Chinese zither, creating the accompaniment. Together, they create a sound evocative of Mozart, who was roughly contemporary with the clock's conception.
Following this, the piece then takes the audience on a grand tour of European music styles from the 18th to the 20th century. The melody is transformed, taking on new iterations inspired by various composers’ styles, firstly with Brahms, then Puccini, Bartok, Stravinsky, Feldman, and finally Glass, which brings us to the current day.
While this list of composers may suggest the piece is rather classical, Geyer has created it for a unique ensemble, composing it for a guzheng, which usually plays solo, along with a bassoon, violin and double bass. A quartet of this composition hasn’t previously been attested, meaning ‘A clock through time’ as unique as the piece of art that inspired it.
The piece premiered on February 1st as part of the Science Museum’s Chinese New Year Lates event. Leo Geyer and the Constella Music ensemble (see photo below) performed to a grand reception in the Winton Gallery, framed by a mathematics-inspired architectural installation designed by Dame Zaha Hadid.
Even those who did not have the musical ear or knowledge to identify the composition influences could appreciate the evident journey within the music and recognise the rareness of the ensemble performing.
In addition to ‘A Clock through Time’, the Constella Music ensemble also performed two other sets showcasing a range of clock-inspired music. The first included a performance of Leroy Anderson’s comic work ‘The Syncopated Clock’ and the second movement from Haydn’s Symphony n.101, both of which drew on the rhythmic ideas of a ticking clock.
The second set then began with an excerpt from Zoltán Kodály’s opera Hary Janos called Viennese Musical Clock, which portrays the clicking and clanging of a musical clock. This was followed by a piece Beethoven sketched for a mechanical organ clock, which was interestingly not discovered until after his death. Clips of ‘A Clock through Time’ will be available via the Science Museum online in June for those who wish to listen.
As we conclude this reflection on the Clockwork Treasures Exhibition and Leo Geyer's innovative interpretation, we're reminded of the profound interplay between art, music, and time. It is beautiful to see museums engaging with cultural practitioners to showcase exciting pieces of scientific history and actively funding the creation of new art. Such practices mean that historical artefacts do not just become objects of art ‘decorating space’—although the Zimingzhong can be appreciated in this way—but are items connected to an ongoing cycle of intellectual and cultural exchange.
With the Communicating Time and Culture project, the science museum has done an admirable job using the beauty of the Zimingzhong and ambitious new musical pieces to showcase the cultural links between Britain and China. Here’s to hoping that ‘A Clock through Time’ will be enjoyed, much like the Ziminzhong a few centuries later!
Article written by guest author Susan Carter, Constella Music.