Dutch graphic designer Karel Martens has made clocks for years. Starting somewhere around 1968, Karel attached new faces to existing clock mechanisms to produce graphic compositions, which by their nature, are constantly changing. This screensaver works the same way.

Based on a wall clock designed by Karel for his exhibition at P! (New York), the screensaver software uses three yellow and blue spinning disks to display the hours, minutes, and seconds of the current time. It does very little, other than spin contentedly. But, on the way, the passing of time produces a collection of graphic arrangements as so many discrete moments.

Recently, it was suggested that Karel's persistent interest in clocks was a symptom of working on his own for many years and that a clock might just be a symbol for “the long gestation period of independent ideas.”

“Karel Martens: Recent Work,” closed November 6, 2016 at 6pm. When the exhibition closed, the screensaver launched. It remains spinning indefinitely.

Six Prototypes for a Screensaver was commissioned for “Quick, Quick, Slow: Word, Image and Time”. Curated by Emily King, this exhibition is a co-production between Museu Colecção Berardo and ExperimentaDesign Lisboa 2009, 10 September – 29 November.