Upon

Upon was created by Trasobares while installing his work Crossing and Departures at a 1997 exhibition at the AMAM. The watch was designed by performance artist Karen Finley for Art Matters, a direct-mail catalog that sold artist-designed products. Trasobares had bought the watch for his personal use, and accidentally shattered its glass face against a sculpture he was moving. Trasobares likened this work to a Duchampian readymade, asserting that the broken watch suggested “a territory beyond logic and measurements.” In juxtaposing the watch with a humidity chart from the day the timepiece shattered, Trasobares further illustrates a tension between reason and the unpredictable nature of life.