The President Clock is a new project by Los Angeles artist and designer Nicholas Hanna. It marks the term of the U.S. President with a custom designed time mechanism that slowly rotates the single hand of the clock over a period of 4 years.

Whether you think time is on your side, or the clock is ticking, we have four years together. The President Clock is a special “slow” clock by artist Nicholas Hanna that uses a custom engineered time mechanism to rotate the hand of the clock slowly over four years.

You will not perceive the hand of the clock moving when you look at it. Only as time passes, will you notice the hand slowly change position around the face of the clock. The clock is not a countdown, but rather a companion to help mark your own awareness over the next four years.

The experience of living with a “slow” clock is unique, because it gives you an external reference point to become conscious of your own passage through time. It gives you an index into a period of time that is difficult to contemplate. We live day by day, and The President Clock is a useful prompt to apprehend a longer span of time.

Design Team

Nicholas Hanna

The Object:

The President Clock is made from a solid disk of cast acrylic 11 inches in diameter. We are using an ultra high resolution digital print process with UV cured ink to create the design on the face of the clock – this results in a beautiful, matte finish. The clock face is cut and polished with a CNC machine, before it is attached to the clock mechanism. The final appearance is sleek, clean and lightweight, so it will be easy to hang on the wall.

Design Options:

The President Clock is available in six different designs with a choice of four colored clock hands: white, black, red or blue.

Custom Time Movement:

The President Clock rotates once every four years. You will not perceive the hand of the clock move when you look at it. Only as time passes, from week to week, will you notice the hand slowly move around the face of the clock.

To make the time movement of The President Clock, we are modifying a standard quartz clock mechanism with a custom chip of our own design that changes how it calculates time. We've prioritized power efficiency in the design. The President Clock runs off a single AA battery, which is included with the clock. The battery will last for roughly 5 years, which will take you through this presidency, and into the next.

About the Creator:

Nicholas Hanna is an artist and designer based in Los Angeles. His work with creative technology includes making tools and devices to help us appreciate different scales of time. After this year's US presidential election, Nicholas realized that the 4-year time span was of imminent importance, and he set about creating The President Clock.

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