Maarten Baas Debuts Cartoonish Clay Clocks

Rather than a traditional ticking clock face, each minute of the day is told by a minute-long drawing.

Dutch designer Maarten Baas has expanded on his iconic Clay series with a collection of limited-edition clocks, which each tell the time through moving faces drawn by children.

Baas’ Children’s Clocks were unveiled this week at the Carpenters Workshop Gallery in LA, as part of a wider exhibition titled “Play Time”. The new pieces exemplify the designer’s longstanding affinity with childlike creativity and see cartoon-like forms take on useful purposes.

As well as building on his “Clay” series, the pieces mirror ideas used for Baas’ “Real Time” clock pieces, in which the designer seeks to mark the passing of time in methods beyond the traditional ticking hands, using videography. “Baas has consistently sought to reverse the natural flow of time and rekindle the wonder of childhood within an adult environment,” the gallery says. “This magical element is expressed through artworks centered around playfulness and purposely naïve shapes, resulting in a childlike signature style that has made his art instantly recognizable and iconic."