Image: Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is bringing Christian Marclay’s 'The Clock' back to Los Angeles this week, with the 24-hour single-channel montage opening Sunday, July 26. LACMA says the work is returning to the city for the first time since 2015.
Built from thousands of moments drawn from cinema and television history, 'The Clock' depicts the passage of time by excerpting and editing together footage into a functioning timepiece synchronized to local time wherever it is shown. The piece runs for 24 hours and is intended to operate as both artwork and clock, with scenes from films and television matching the hour on the wall in real time.
LACMA’s weekly update frames the presentation as an early-summer highlight in the museum’s programming. The museum is offering member previews from Thursday, July 23, through Saturday, July 25, before the public opening on Sunday. It is also selling tickets for a special 24-hour screening on Saturday, July 25.
The work has long been associated with LACMA through a museum-owned example of the piece. According to the email, 'The Clock' at LACMA was organized by the museum, and the image credit identifies the work as a 2010 piece in the museum’s collection, purchased with funds provided by Steve Tisch through the 2011 Collectors Committee.
Marclay’s film-based installation has been widely discussed for its scale and structure, but LACMA’s announcement keeps the focus on its basic experience: a continuous, clock-synchronized montage assembled from innumerable fragments of screen history. The museum’s invitation emphasizes the challenge and reward of watching a work that unfolds over the full span of a day.
The opening is scheduled for July 26, 2026, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in Los Angeles. Member previews run July 23–25, and the special 24-hour screening is set for Saturday, July 25.
