If you're the type of person who likes to keep checking the time when you're watching a movie, American artist Christian Marclay's The Clock is perfect for you. It's a 24-hour compilation film made up of clips from cinematic history which all feature some reference to the time – whether it's vision of a clock or somebody saying what the time is. The wild thing is that Marclay has synced this all up so that the time in the film matches the actual time of day at which it's playing. So if you're watching in the lead-up to noon, expect frantic action sequences building up to the Gary Cooper flick, High Noon. If you're watching around 4pm, you'll see people on the commute.
The film, which features more than 12,000 clips, premiered in 2010 at White Cube gallery in London, and it's been touring the world ever since then. It's packed out gallery spaces, attracting lines of visitors waiting and waiting for some quality time with the film.
It might all sound a little strange – and there's obviously no connective narrative running through the whole thing – but we caught it when it was in Sydney in 2013, and can confirm that it's absolutely addictive and has a strangely meditative effect.
ACMI will be showing the film for free, and there will be no bookings. So be prepared to wait, especially if you're hanging around on weekends.
You can view the film from 10am to 5pm every day. ACMI will stay open all night every Thursday so visitors can see the entire 24-hour film. It will also be open all night on Saturday March 9.