Time travels through design and art

Damien Hirst gets his inspiration from black Panerai watches. Photos Provided to China Daily

The entrance to O'Clock Time Design, Design Time, an art exhibition related to timepieces, is narrow and dim. Ceilings and walls have rough and uneven surfaces. Walking through, visitors feel as if they are walking through a time tunnel.

Featuring 68 art pieces, the exhibition is jointly presented by Triennale Design Museum and Italian Cultural Institute in Beijing. It inaugurated in Milan, before meeting China's audiences at Beijing's CAFA Art Museum recently.

British artist Damien Hirst used dials of watchmaker Officine Panerai watches to create two paintings, with shining bright color blocks and stripes to form the shape of a sunflower. He used spin painting technique in his works.

"The watches are timeless and I made this spin painting using black Panerai watch faces without hands, in the pattern of sunflower seeds. I hope the painting makes you think, we are here for a good time, not a long time," Hirst says.

Marti Guixe's work is named Time to Eat. It is a wooden clock, with a small pendulum. But, there are no numbers and hands on the face, only several holes.

Incorporating special technology, the clock emits different smell during mealtimes to tease the senses and acts as a reminder. For example, at 9 am, it sends out the smell of omelet to remind the user to have breakfast; beef smell during lunch at 1 pm; and tuna steaks during supper at 10 pm.

Hirst uses dials of Panerai watches to create paintings with shining bright color blocks and stripes to form the shape of a sunflower.