Eternity in eleven acts: Àlex Nogué transforms the Clock Tower

The initiative for the installation came from Àlex Nogué, who made the proposal to the vice-rector for Culture, and the Rector’s Office agreed to sponsor it. The installation was executed between 15 and 19 March this year, coinciding with the eighth-sixth anniversary of the deadly bombings that destroyed the university’s original clock in 1938. This historical context gives the work a profound meaning, linking past and present through art. The installation, which does not restrict circulation or condition the space, will remain permanently in the Clock Tower.  

Àlex Nogué, professor emeritus of the UB’s Faculty of Fine Arts, has created a work that invites visitors to reflect on time through eleven interconnected pieces, which are subtly integrated with the space of the tower. Each element of this installation “offers an open interpretation, inspired by scientific, philosophical and artistic concepts linked to the perception of time”, Nogué points out. The installation “is not only a work of art, but also a tribute to the history and turbulent memory of Barcelona and the University. The original clock, destroyed by the bombings of 1938, and the subsequent restorations of the space, are testimonies to the constant resilience and renewal”, explains the author.
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The pieces, which are non-invasive and focus on the tower itself and its singularities, are as follows:
 

Dins del temps: This piece introduces visitors to a huge conceptual clock, represented by four geometric shapes on a white mural, suggesting the circumferential arc of a giant clock that runs through the lower floors of the building.

Punt Escher: Located in the clock room, this confusing viewpoint allows one to simultaneously see the top and bottom of a staircase from the doorway, playing with spatial perception and gravity.

Llevant/Ponent: Using stained glass in red and dark blue, this piece is reminiscent of the biological clocks of living beings, long before human time measurement.

El temps explosionat o Rellotge cubista: A mural made up of rectangles and diamonds, symbolising the minutes and intervals of the clock, breaks into a fractured space, evoking the explosion of 1938 and the expansive nature of time.

El mateix de sempre: Paying homage to Modest Urgell, this piece presents the front and back of a canvas, exploring duality and repetition in art.

Verd emergent: The counterweights of the clock, sunk in a dark depth, emit a symbolic green light, completing the triad of light colours (RGB).

Xiprer horitzontal: The silhouette of a cypress tree, a tree of ancestral symbolism, stretches above the clock’s machinery.

Temps i espai revertits: Through a set of mirrors, this piece reverses the order of the hours, only to restore it when it is reflected in the interior window panes.

El barret de Harold Lloyd: An allusion to the famous film Safety Last!, in which the actor’s forgotten hat stands as tangible evidence.

Espirals inverses: Two spirals on the floor of the terrace, facing opposite directions, support the cypress, symbolising the eternal cycle of time.

Escala incompleta amb esglaó daurat: A symbolic ladder, reminiscent of the maintenance of the gears of the clock, but now without a practical function, represents the incomplete ascent and the eternal search.
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Àlex Nogué (1953) is professor emeritus of painting at the UB’s Faculty of Fine Arts. His artistic career is characterised by a transversal and multidisciplinary approach that includes painting, sculpture, installation and an intense publishing activity. Nogué has developed his work with constant references to landscape and nature, evolving from a classicist style to new forms of artistic expression. His installation in the Clock Tower is proof of his commitment to innovation and reflection on time and space.