Tuesday, April 21, 2009

The spirit of the clock tower

Irvine Valley College once had a clock tower. It was a good clock tower, as clock towers go. But some of its timber was rotten.

So they tore it down.



We managed to rescue the clock’s hands. That’s all that’s left. Plus our memories.

The clock tower is gone. But the spirit of the clock tower survives.

Here are some pictures that the Reb and I took today around campus and inside the new BSTIC building.


The A-quad: somebody told us that they put this slab of concrete "right on top of the bricks."
"So the bricks are OK," he said.
"Oh."






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17 comments:

Anonymous said...

I remember the clock tower well; it was pretty classy looking.

Anonymous said...

You guys know how to have fun. You could probably snag an NEA grant with this kind of work. What IS that ugly cement block in the middle of the A-Quad? Is that where's Raghu's statue is going to go?

Anonymous said...

Cool.

I was wondering what you were doing but I didn't want to ask.

Don't ask, I told myself.

Anonymous said...

I like it!

They should let you guys pick the art! The hands are great, evocative even, and witty.

Anonymous said...

"Don't ask, I told myself."

Recently a friend was telling me a story about something strange another person had done. I asked him if he knew why the person did it.

"I didn't ask," came the reply, "because I was afraid he would tell me."

Worth thinking about.

Anonymous said...

The spirit of the clock tower is strange and wondrous indeed.

Love this.

(How much $ on the new clocktower? on the new art?)

Anonymous said...

Great photos. I think I need to explore IVC campus more (I'm at Saddleback).

Anonymous said...

And the beat goes on.

Anonymous said...

Great photos!

Anonymous said...

Chunk, the last photo (with vertical shadows) is fabulous. Kinda like a sun-dial and clock combined. Even without any of those concepts, just the look of it is wonderful.

--mad as hell

Anonymous said...

The college always looks better when you photograph it Roy.

I love the concept of these pohotos. I think they should place clockhands like this throughout the campus - it's a great look. Cheap too. Such a project would also unify the disparate areas of the school.

Anonymous said...

The photos of the orphaned clock hands capture a sense of alienation, powerlessness. Notice the absence of discernable human figures, the cold clinical surfaces, the vast emptiness of spaces which should be teeming with students and teachers.

What time did you take these? If it wasn't for the sun and shadows, I'd say the middle of the night. Where have all the people gone?

Anonymous said...

We took all the photos at about noon yesterday. It was hot and the sun was intense. "I think this sun is giving me a headache," I said. The Reb had endless enthusiasm for our project, so we took lots of pics. Someone had told me last week that I need to visit the interior of BISTIC, owing to its emptiness and sterility, I guess. When I got upstairs, an employee asked me what I thought of the building. I said, "All it needs is on really big chunk of ice, right here." I was particularly happy with the staircase shot, the only one that seemed obviously good to me. It's funny how this kind of collection of images can take on lots of meaning, some of it intended, some of it not. I guess that makes it art. Dunno. --RB

Anonymous said...

Does anyone really know what time it is?

Anonymous said...

10:05 - oh wait, you weren't really asking, were you? I just take things too literally all the time...plus I'm socially awkward...oops, too much information again, huh? Oh well.

ES

Anonymous said...

HILARIOUS, Thanks, Chunk and Reb.

Anonymous said...

Hey even a busted clock tells the correct time twice a day.
heheheeee

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...