AND THE CLOCK, TICK TOCK (ON THE MANTLEPIECE)
A Dutch designer playing for time on the new Peter Gabriel tour
by ahand83
Peter Gabriel’s on tour with i/o. Finally after more than 20 years his fans have some new music to listen to. It’s been worth the wait. Gabriel’s last performances on a large stage were in 2013 with his Back To Front Tour, playing the album ‘So’ entirely. The stage setup for Back To Front was a bit plain compared to his more theatrical tours like ‘Secret World Live’ from 1993 and ‘Growing Up’ from 2003/2004. Even now, it seems as if the stage setup is more simple than it used to be in the past. Still, the first fragments of video look promising and there are a couple of surprises to look forward to.
One of those surprises is the design of the clock that’s projected on the big round screen before the show. The clock shows a blurred man in an orange overall wiping out the hands of the clock and putting them back in place with a brush or a marker of some kind. That man is Maarten Baas, a Dutch visual artist and designer who became famous with his Smoke series back in 2002.
Nowadays Maarten Baas is known for his Real Time clocks. Two of his most prominent works are the clocks in Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and London Paddington Station. Recently I had the opportunity to ask Maarten Baas some questions about his work and working with Gabriel in particular.
When did you first come to the idea of the Real Time clock?
The idea of Real Time is from 2009. Back then I launched a series of different clock movies on an exposition in Milan. Since then I’ve used the concept on many occasions on behalf of various collectors and museums.
I understand from a news report I read earlier that you’ve had personal contact with Peter Gabriel? How did that go?
Yes, we had contact through Zoom. He is a nice and friendly personality. It was great brainstorming with Gabriel on some ideas I had. After that I worked on those ideas with his team.
What can you tell me about your considerations of working with Peter Gabriel?
I was honoured that he asked me. I’m always open to new experiences and ideas. At first, I made a very extensive (and expensive) proposal and send it to his team. They wrote me something like “thank you for your efforts, but it exceeds our budget so unfortunately we have to decline.” Without thinking it through I made a joke saying “we don’t want to give up yet” and I offered them a new, affordable proposition. After that I was back in the game.
Do you often work on behalf of other people, or do you consider yourself a free artist?
Both, but when I get an assignment I always try to bend it my own way a bit.
Will you attend the Peter Gabriel concert in Amsterdam to see your clock live in action? What are your expectations?
Yes, I’m going and I’m curious for the final result. Ofcourse I’ve seen some images on social media so I kinda know what to expect.
With all the success you’ve had over the years, is there something you still wish for as an artist?
To be honest, I never had a real goal in life.
Maarten Baas was interviewed about his project with Peter Gabriel by RTV Utrecht. You can read the article and listen to the interview here. Peter Gabriel mentioned Maarten Baas just after he got on stage in Amsterdam and he informed the audience briefly about Maarten’s work.