Linking Olympic time and athletic legends
Linking Olympic time and athletic legends
JAKARTA (JP): What's the connection between the Olympics and a
clock tower created by a group of Italian artists with the
unlikely name of Plumcake? It isn't a trick question. It is the
Swatch O'Clock Tower in Rome. It is the first of 12 modernistic
towers to be erected in 12 major world cities. All were created
by designers handpicked by Swatch.
The purpose of each of these zany, avant-garde clock towers is
to count down the seconds leading to the Centennial 1996 Olympic
Games in Atlanta, where Swatch is the official timekeeper.
Recognizing that as the Games gets ever closer, the interest
mounts and the Olympic fever begins, Swatch has released the
third watch in their Games collection. The 10 funky watches
acknowledge the greatness of the people who have made the
Olympics what they are -- people like gymnast Nadia Comaneci and
swimmer Mark Spitz. The watches were created to reflect the
Olympians they honor.
The result is a shorthand visual note that combines the
greatness of the athletes with their personalities. For instance,
the Katarina Witt watch, dedicated to the figure skater who
skated away with Olympic golds in 1984 and 1988, is a whimsical
concoction in icy blues and green. It represents not just her
aggressive skating style, but also her sequined costume and lucky
skates. Sunflower yellow, Witt's favorite color, is used for the
hands.
The elegant understatement of the Sebastian Coe Watch, in
contrast, highlights his 1,500 meters record in the 1994
Olympics. The smart Edwim Moses Automatic is in red, black and
white, and acknowledges his 1976 Games record for the men's 400m
hurdles. It features frozen frames of Moses jumping, beautiful
images of the man in motion. Incidentally, watching his own
videos repeatedly to perfect his technique was part of Moses'
training program. The reverse of each watch carries the autograph
of the athlete as well as details of the event, number of medals
and national flag.
Wear a legend on your wrist, and have him or her tell you the
time? Well, why not?
-- Parvathi Nayar Narayan