Timeless Watch: Neighborhood Watch

Harold O'Connor, Timeless Watch: Neighborhood Watch, 1992, 18k gold, titanium and leather, open: 9 ³⁄₈ x 2 ⁷⁄₈ x ¹⁄₄ in. (23.8 x 7.3 x 0.6 cm) closed: 9 ³⁄₈ x 1 ³⁄₈ x ¹⁄₂ in. (23.8 x 3.5 x 1.3 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Martha and Pat Connell, 1998.146

Artwork Details

Title: Timeless Watch: Neighborhood Watch
Artist: Harold O'Connor
Date: 1992
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: open: 9 ³⁄₈ x 2 ⁷⁄₈ x ¹⁄₄ in. (23.8 x 7.3 x 0.6 cm) closed: 9 ³⁄₈ x 1 ³⁄₈ x ¹⁄₂ in. (23.8 x 3.5 x 1.3 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Martha and Pat Connell
Mediums: gold
leather
titanium
Mediums Description: 18k gold, titanium and leather
Classifications: Decorative Arts
Subjects: Architecture Exterior — domestic — house
Allegory — quality — harmony
Dress — accessory — jewelry
Figure group
Object Number: 1998.146
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1998.146

Artwork Description

Timeless Watch: Neighborhood Watch is one of a series of works in which Harold O’Connor comments on our ideas of time. Playing on humorous figures of speech, he considers how we structure time to organize our activities. In this piece, the “watch” becomes a tool to control our schedules and conduct surveillance, as neighbors do who keep a watchful eye on one another.