All That Is Solid Melts Into Air

All That Is Solid Melts Into Air

Emily Tweedie

    The exhibition was led round within a circle, like a time line. Starting at the title and work your way around the room to the end piece. It had mixed media, from paintings to photographs to film as well as objects.

Motorola WT4000, Wearable Terminal, 2013
Courtesy Motorola Solutions

Double-Dial Longcase Clock from Park Green
Silk Mill, Macclesfield. 1810

   The two pieces that I chose to analyse is 'Motorola WT4000' and the "Double-Dial Longcase Clock": Both of these devices are used to manage the time of the workers. The Motorola managed the time of the workers by a tracking device which was worn on their wrist. It would tell the workers what to do and where to go as well as inform the worker how fast they are completing the tasks at hand. The Double-Dial Clock, was less advanced in technology but did a similar thing, one of the clocks was to show the time of day and the other would show any time lost within the working day and would have to be made up by the workers at the end of their shift.
   The sequencing I believe was to show the advances in technology within time, starting with paintings then leading to photographs and objects such as the clocks. The juxtaposition with certain things was to show how similar but more advanced they were. It was also to show the differences in the working culture such as the differences between men and women.

Video of Steel Industry

   One piece that I believe showed well the working class experience was the video of working class men in the steel industry. The whole film is 35 minutes long and showed the cycle of how metal was made. Thus also showing the working class being controlled by a person in a higher position than them. It also showed how much labor they had to endure to make a wage.

Clocking On/Off Clock

    One device that could be connected with was the 'Clocking On/Off Clock', one woman said her mother used to work and clock in with a similar device. I also have a connection with this, although it is less advance, I also clock in and out at work which tracks what time I get there and what time I leave. If I am late, it automatically gets deduced from my wage rather than me working for a longer period to make the time up.