Jewelers Sign Watch c. 1940

Curator: This graphite and paper drawing from around 1940 by Paul Poffinbarger presents an ornate pocket watch. The name "O.D. Castle Bros." is emblazoned where you might expect a brand name to be. What's your first take? Editor: Heavy. Seriously, it looks incredibly heavy, even for an old watch. There's something about the thick graphite strokes giving it a solid, almost burdensome feel. A weighty representation of time, perhaps? Curator: Perhaps! Poffinbarger was quite the craftsman. I see this piece as a commentary on industrial time and its control of labour. In a pre-digital age, clocks held sway over the rhythms of the work day. What happens when time itself becomes a commodity? Editor: Absolutely! The "O.D. Castle Bros." are undoubtedly clockmakers or jewelers and, from what I can see, male dominated. This artwork prompts me to think about the intersections of labor, patriarchy, and our understanding of time's relentless march, something especially relevant considering how historically disenfranchised communities often experienced temporal disruption via enslavement and colonialism. The broken promises of punctuality. Curator: Indeed. But then I also think, time moves in a strange loop here. Poffinbarger creates this meticulously detailed drawing, preserving a moment, while also reminding us of the inevitable passage of time that the watch represents. There is real care here. Almost love. Editor: A valid perspective. What kind of emotional labour goes into the mechanical reproduction of time, into these industrial clocks and into these nostalgic artworks that reproduce the clocks that ordered lives? A tension emerges here, as this drawing straddles time periods, both reflecting and reinterpreting history. Curator: So it's not simply a charming antique object, it’s an artifact laden with socio-economic significance. Thanks, you have wound up the discussion very nicely! Editor: Anytime! Perhaps together, we can make an impact and remind all of us that looking backward can help us look forward!