-Street Clock- still bank c. 1920 - 1931

This "Street Clock" still bank, was made by the A.C. Williams Company. It's interesting to think of artmaking in terms of process, and with this piece, you can really see the signs of aging. I love how the red paint is worn away in places, revealing the metal underneath. There's a real sense of history there, of time passing. The clock face itself is a kind of abstraction, with these vaguely defined numbers. It looks less about telling time and more like a symbol of time itself. You can see that kind of weathering in outsider art, too. It reminds me of the work of Bill Traylor, who used found materials to create these really powerful images. It makes you think about how art is always in conversation with itself, across time and different makers. Art embraces ambiguity. It's all about finding your own meaning.