Object number2022.42.15

Time – (B)

Date1980

Artist Kenji Nakahashi (Japanese, 1947 - 2017)

CultureJapanese, American

MediumGelatin silver print, printed 1985

DimensionsImage: 10 x 13 in. (25.4 x 33 cm)
Sheet: 11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 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 in a scale with a neutral background. The clock on the right reads 12:15 and the clock on the left reads 12:03 as the scale tips down towards the 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