Untitled (Perfect Lovers) - Felix Gonzalez-Torres, 1991.

Conceptual Sculpture - Clocks & paint on wall, 35.6 x 71.2 x 7 cm.

These two identical, adjacent, battery-operated clocks were initially set to the same time, but, with time, they will inevitably fall out of sync. Gonzalez-Torres created this work shortly after his partner, Ross Laycock, was diagnosed with AIDS. By assigning these redundant objects the title”Untitled” (Perfect Lovers), the artist transformed these public, neutral devices used for the measurement of time into personal and poetic meditations on human relationships, mortality, and time’s inevitable flow. Of the light-blue background, Gonzalez-Torres said, “For me if a beautiful memory could have a color that color would be light blue.”

Permanent Collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York City.