143 Hours (Shabbat Clock)

Text Panel

This work, which was created by the artist when she was pregnant, deals with various essences of time and is somewhat reminiscent of a fetal ultrasound or a moon in the process of reaching its full phase. The work features five clocks that count the 143 hours between the end of Shabbat and the start of the next one six days later. The clocks, which gradually become full during the week, display, in real time, the number of hours that are left before Shabbat starts in different cities around the world. When Shabbat starts and the clock is full, the count is discontinued for 25 hours and the clock is replaced by an image that conveys the qualities of time that are inherent in Shabbat.
One of the clocks is “outside of time” and tells the time in the North Pole. Because a full six months can separate sunrise and sunset at the poles, Shabbat can theoretically continue there for six or more months. That explains the artist’s choice to portray an infinite Shabbat on this clock, which continues uninterruptedly in parallel with daily life and constitutes a mirror image of the days of the week.