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UAE-based clock designer Amjad Al-Hajj on being the time sculptor

Amjad, who will be showcasing his work at Downtown Design, on creating elaborate timepieces that are at the intersection of art and science

Time has infinite possibilities. It can hurt. It can heal. It can be fluid. Sometimes, it can seem fixed. Philosophers in the Western as well as the Arab world have written reams about time and how we map our evolution keeping it at the centre of our existence. Taking that idea further, UAE resident and timepiece sculptor Amjad Al-Hajj has been designing intricate pieces of clocks that speak of how we understand time in all its forms.

Take, for example, his creation Big Bang that is part of the Mysteries of the Universe collection, which Amjad will be exhibiting at Downtown Design from November 6-9. Merging art with science, the exquisite timepiece is inspired by the cosmic event that shaped the universe. Another timepiece, Supernova, which will be unveiled at Downtown Design, beautifully captures the grandeur of an explosion of a star. In short, Amjad’s work speaks of time as something that stands as a witness to the evolution of the cosmic world.

“It started with my childhood,” says the Jordanian when we probe him on the origins of his interest in clocks as works of art. “I was blessed to have an environment to showcase my talent in art. I was allowed to draw on the walls. I was given paints and brushes to express myself. My father would, in fact, also tell me how to use building tools like a hammer or a screwdriver, while my mother was an artist herself.” This, along with an early education that prioritised art, helped Amjad to plunge into architecture that eventually paved the way for his timepiece sculpting work.

An important caveat to all his timepieces is that they are envisioned more from an aesthetic point of view rather than a functionality perspective. “I am not a horologist,” he says. “Technically, I cannot design a clock to read time. But I can design the aesthetics of a clock. I use a Swiss supplier who provides me with the mechanism to run a clock. We also use other specialised services to tackle the intricate horological aspects of a clock. What I create are essentially sculptures in the form of timepieces.”

One of those elaborate and evocative works of art is the NAFFCO clock tower. Spread across 13 metres, the clock that now stands firmly in the heart of Jebel Ali was created as part of a commission by then NAFFCO chairman Khalid Al Khatib who “wanted a monument that would capture the spirit of his company”. Amjad created the timepiece using steel and granite with numbers crafted using the former. It represents time as a never-ending phenomenon which towers over all human endeavours.

Cut to the present, the Downtown Design exhibition will showcase his most recent creations that are themed on cosmology. “Each creation has a story and a certain sentiment and connection with people. I want to be able to create Dubai Clock, have at least one of my timepieces at the heart of every city in the world,” says Amjad.

That would be a laborious task given each of his timepieces take at least six months for completion with discussions continuing on whether there should be solo pieces or a limited edition collection. As for what really goes into designing a clock, he says it begins with an idea — “the concept”. “It can be inspired by flowers, skies, nature or a story. This moment is magical and hence unexplainable because an idea begins to speak to you. I then begin to draw mock-ups and then begin to work on the details. The technical parts, while being considered, remain largely secondary.” Sometimes, the idea is blurry for months before it takes a fuller form, but Amjad says most of his works, which are usually priced at $30,000 or above, are complete in six months. “I have to look at details from different angles. It’s not always about being big, it has to say something profound.”

For example, one of his upcoming pieces, called Illusion, is a clock that Amjad wants to deem unreadable. In other words, it will be a clock that doesn’t tell time. “There is a concept in science that suggests time is an illusion. The function then becomes secondary to what I am trying to do over here. Let’s be realistic — if people want to actually read time, all they have to do is look at their phones or watches. So the big timepieces have to serve a function that’s a marriage of art as well as science,” says Amjad.

And sometimes, he deliberately keeps hidden motifs for the onlooker to spot the finer nuances. In Big Bang, for example, there are hidden numbers. “In the cosmology collection, there are hidden design elements, which make them more interesting,” he says. “The theme of all of my projects is centred on time which later evolve into sculptures that do not tell time. But time is an extremely profound subject. I am told it is the most used pronoun in English language.”

Making art out of a clock, that is a rare endeavour. Amjad says he is yet to meet anyone who is following a similar pursuit. “Even when I went to Switzerland to have those collaborations, I was told something like this had not been seen before. I guess that is largely because I am addressing larger existential questions through my timepiece sculptures — where did we come from, where are we going?”

In that sense, which has been his most difficult project? “Illusion is complex because it is organic. Each work comes with its own challenge, and that really is the fun part. But I strongly believe in minimalism as a design philosophy. Origin, for example, is a simple, well-measured piece of concrete. But a lot of work went into getting the proportions right along with the finish. Many would look at it and think it is a simple rectangle. It’s not.” Which is why they say, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.

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