Object number2022.42.9

Difference in Time

Date1980

Artist Kenji Nakahashi (Japanese, 1947 - 2017)

CultureJapanese, American

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 8 7/8 x 13 5/8 in. (22.5 x 34.6 cm)
Sheet: 11 x 16 in. (27.9 x 40.6 cm)

Credit LineAnonymous gift in memory of Kenji Nakahashi

On View

Not on view

Period20th c

Classification(s)

Photograph

MarkingsOn verso, stamped lower right corner in ink: © Kenji Nakahashi

ProvenanceGift of Gratia Williams (artist's widow)

Vassar Exhibitions

Chronostasia: Select Acquisitions 2020–2025

Label TextTwo clocks rest on a balance scale—12:15 tipping lower than 12:04, as if certain moments carry more weight. In another arrangement, crosshairs overlay synchronized faces like surveyor’s marks. A third spreads the clocks across measured space to manifest rotational time, their separation calculated: “One foot = 0.000657 sec.”—a figure derived from one foot of Earth’s rotation. After working as a designer in Japan, Kenji Nakahashi moved to New York in 1973, continuing his education at Pratt Institute and the Art Students League while teaching himself photography. His photographs emerged from curiosity about commonplace objects, settings, and their unexpected possibilities. Through understated interventions, Nakahashi invites viewers to question what they assume about the nature of time itself.

DescriptionBlack and white image of two clocks sitting against a neutral ground and background with space in between filled partially by small text. In the center upper is the letter "N"; at center right is "0.000657 sec.; at center lower is the letter "S"; at center left is "One foot ≒". Each clock is partially cut off by the image frame at left and right.

Terms

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email loebcollections@vassar.edu