Telefunken digitale 201
Markus Burgstaller
Three modified alarm clocks, 243 x 155 x 17 cm
Austria 2016
Instead of the time, a hurdles loop can be seen on the analog number-time display of the Telefunken flip clock radio, which was manufactured from 1973 to 1987. With about eight pictures per second a slow-motion “film” is generated. The 60 still images were taken from a YouTube video and applied manually onto the mechanism.
This work combines the two components of the time and motion studies, which emerged as a combination of Frederick W. Taylor’s Time Study and Frank & Lillian Gilbreth’s Motion Study in 1910. Everyday work processes, such as a bricklayer’s activity or household tasks, were performed into the camera and recorded with a calibrated clock. The aim of these recordings was to establish a standard time by visualizing the time saving by the “only correct work motion” and the “only correct standardized workflow”.
Transferred to the present day, this development manifests in the ideals of the neoliberal dictum: Constant retrieval and operational readiness as well as the demand for maximum performance with continuous self-optimization of the individual. (Markus Burgstaller)
Markus Burgstaller, born 1970 in Linz, lives and works in Linz, Austria.
