Time on the Clock and in Other Interpretations: Non-Objective Shares Thoughts

Contents:

• Background
• Seoul Time
• Feedback and Suggestions
• Project Summary
• Time Categories
• What About the Future
• Global Plan
• Getting Out of the Routine

In this text, Ksenia Korosteleva, who often gets lost in the flow of time, met with Artem Matyushkin, founder and creative director of Non-Objective studio, and Katya Sikacheva, her partner and creative director. They discussed the exhibition entitled "Clockwise and Otherwise: Non-Objective Times". This event took place in Seoul at the Pop Hannam space from February 25 to March 17, 2025, and was later transferred to digital form.

In short, it is a design study dedicated to the concept of time. In Seoul, 145 static clock faces were presented, while in the online version they were converted into digital format.

We discussed the Korean audience, the project's life cycle, and its purpose.

Background

Artyom Matyushkin: First of all, the background should be explained. We always appreciate unexpected moments, and that's how this idea came about—spontaneously, in 2022, when we didn't have time to prepare the studio's website for its second anniversary celebration.

We realized it needed to be completed in just a few days or weeks. That's where the idea of ​​time came from: we spent a long time planning, dreaming, and imagining, confident we'd have time to implement our plans.

Ultimately, as if in an instant, time flew by. We thought: why not turn this into a creative process? So the four of us decided to create our own watch faces.

As we worked, we realized that what was initially perceived as a temporary solution became the basis for a fascinating exploration. We analyzed the ideas proposed by each of us and noticed that everyone sees time completely differently. For example, the expression "in the afternoon" for one person may mean time after noon, while for another it only starts from six o'clock in the evening.

We have a significant number of client projects that, to varying degrees, are connected with certain time frames, manipulations with time, numbers, and figures. This topic, with its uncertainty, is of particular interest to us.

We lived with this legacy, which remained with us. We really liked this project, and we felt the desire to bring it back to life. Three years later, the team had grown significantly, and we had undergone many changes. Our perceptions had also undergone a transformation, so it became clear that the project required a new understanding.

In 2024, we held an exhibition in Milan. While planning the next event, we were looking at Japan as a possible location. However, the opportunity to organize an exhibition in Korea soon presented itself.

Seoul

Katya Sikacheva: The context of the environment is very important. Our location in Seoul was in a fairly dynamic and lively area, teeming with life. Every evening, large streams of people gather here for shopping. The area is home to stylish boutiques, temporary exhibitions, and galleries.

We realized the importance of creating a project focused on a specific location. Of course, a certain percentage of viewers, such as designers and our subscribers from South Korea, will come to the exhibition with a conscious purpose. However, a significant portion will be random passersby strolling the shopping streets. In South Korea, the culture of consumption, both visual and physical, is very developed. We found ourselves in an area with many opportunities for this. So we began to think about what exactly we wanted to convey to the audience in this location.

Thus, we once again addressed the concept of time, its objectivity and subjective perception.

As a result, we created a simple visual concept that is accessible even to those outside the target audience.

Artem Matyushkin: We realized that this theme has a multi-layered structure and can be approached from different angles. Naturally, we focused on the local context. For example, information about overtime will be especially relevant and easy to understand in Korea, where working conditions and everyday life really differ in their intensity.

Some of the nearly 150 dials don't resort to wordplay or subjective methods of displaying time, but offer a new visual perception of timepieces. This can attract the attention of even casual passersby.

The exhibition was short-lived: it lasted only five days. It was simply organized and quickly implemented. The basis was simply sheets of paper—148 of them—without any complex installations. This fleeting and relaxed format also contained the poetic quality we were aiming for.

Reviews and suggestions

Katya Sikacheva: B Japan and Korea have a surprisingly respectful and comfortable culture of visiting museums and exhibitions. There's no typical crowding; people peacefully line up to enjoy the exhibits. Everyone tends to study the texts carefully, so we prepared them in Korean.

Almost all participants brought handouts and took photos. We shared basic information about themselves, and they, in turn, discussed which watch face they found most appealing and posed for photos. With the professional audience, we were able to delve deeper into the context of design in our country.

Around the world, one often hears the opinion that there is a catastrophic lack of graphic design exhibitions.

Artem Matyushkin: We received a wide variety of comments. There were several clock faces that became favorites, reflecting universal issues from a sociological and cultural perspective.

We worked on a project involving alarm clocks that went off at one-minute intervals. This caused a real wave of laughter when we took the photos. We thought other watch faces would evoke similar emotions, but the alarm clocks were a real favorite among viewers.

People who happened to be at the event and weren't part of the creative community also said they found the medium unfamiliar. This sentiment largely echoed the comments of professionals.

We've already become familiar with exhibitions dedicated to fine art, photography, digital, and video art. However, this exhibition isn't about design, whether book or poster.

This project presents a concept in which design serves as a tool for conveying a specific idea.

The audience included representatives of the publishing industry, curators, and fashion experts. For them, this event became a vivid example of an exhibition of the variety of concepts and forms that these ideas can take.

Project Kipiai

Katya Sikacheva: Interesting fact. We are in Seoul quite often; it is one of our key locations, and we have an employee who lives there permanently. Therefore, before the exhibition, we already had a certain idea of ​​the city.

Our goal was to ensure that at least one Korean girl, dressed in the latest fashion trends and engaged in content creation, asked us to photograph her against the background of the watch dials. If this happens, we will definitely achieve our key performance indicators. And such moments did occur. There were quite a lot of them.

Artem Matyushkin: In Korea, as in other places, there are many unique design solutions. However, projects where design serves not only as a tool for solving business problems, but also as a way to express ideas, emotions, or impressions are very rare.

Therefore, it was truly gratifying to hear the opinion of a young design teacher. He shared, "I would be curious to suggest that my students try something similar."

This sparked great interest among us, as it resonated with our ambitions and aspirations for further expansion of the project. At one point, we even considered the possibility of an open call, and we were pleased to realize that someone decided to support this initiative.

Furthermore, it was especially gratifying to hear repeated questions full of surprise: "How so? You do design, why do you need this?"

We shared our idea about why we work on independent projects. And, for some reason, this truly delighted the Koreans.

Katya Sikacheva: I find it incredibly rewarding to watch my projects actually develop—when people begin to interpret ideas themselves, adding their own thoughts and combining different meanings that weren't even originally intended.

Such situations are not uncommon in professional work: when you present an idea to a client, they may detect something personal in it, which only deepens their interest and attachment. This becomes a mutually beneficial result.

Numerous interlocutors noted: "It's great that all the clocks are stopped, but as soon as you look at them, you get the feeling that you are aware of how they function."

Time Categories

Artem Matyushkin: We have developed an effective workflow. Similar to our G8 project, we collaborate to create a structure within which everyone explores a given topic from a unique perspective. That is why many watch faces have a subjective nature: they, for example, reflect a personal working day, but may well overlap with other aspects.

Read also:

Not everyone will be able to get to the future: a frank interview with by the Non-Objective team.

I've been thinking about how to classify these clock faces. First, it's worth paying attention to those that focus on the concept of time itself. What does that imply? It's similar to tenses in English. What if we measured time in centimeters, for example? Or used dominoes for this purpose?

Some researchers have focused not on time, but on the clock face itself. This task, although formal, is a very fascinating one. The clock face has a static and understandable nature: it is a circle with divisions indicating the hours and at least two hands. The question is what opportunities open up for us when working with this element.

There is a special category that pertains to personal and subjective perception. For example, consider the pizza-shaped clock face. Vanya Koltsov created one where the slices simply disappeared as the day progressed. Although this project didn't make it into the final version, we plan to return to it in the future.

There are conceptual studies dedicated to the legacy of artists that are of interest to us. For example, you can consider a dial, which is in fact not just a dial, but a kind of instruction for its depiction. This is reminiscent of the work of Sol LeWitt, who created instructions for his wall art.

Or let's imagine some formal reflections: what could a clock face be like if the numbers were arranged not in a sequence corresponding to the time, but in alphabetical order? While this seems wrong and counterintuitive, what if we perceived time exactly like this?

It seems that these diverse groups can create not only individual exhibitions, but also unique statements.

What about the future?

Artem Matyushkin: Our goal is to adapt this project to new conditions. We are currently considering the possibility of holding an exhibition in the Netherlands. We would also like to organize an interactive master class for students from various universities and countries. We will explore a given topic and then analyze how cultural characteristics, geographic location, and life experiences influence their creative work.

It would be interesting to experiment with different contexts. For example, if we were organizing an exhibition in a concept store, we could analyze the changing seasons in fashion and compare slow fashion and fast fashion.

Trying different mediums would be exciting. We are located in Seoul, and our website features static watch faces. On the one hand, this provides freedom in cases where animating the watch face using standard means was not possible. On the other hand, this poses an important condition for us: the key is that the main idea is easily perceived.

Our next goals and aspirations are to develop a real clock in which the hand will move. While the shape of a device can impose certain limitations, it can also give rise to new opportunities.

Global Design

Artem Matyushkin: Although we initially embarked on such projects spontaneously and without prior planning, over time we realized that this type of design serves not only to solve business problems, but also to explore the world around us. This approach has become close to all members of our team.

This is not at all aimed at balancing work responsibilities with creative ones. Fortunately, all of our work tasks are of great interest and are very close to us.

Nevertheless, there is a desire to engage in educational activities. This applies, in particular, to those designers who find themselves trapped in their daily routine and have difficulty breaking free from it. We have all experienced similar feelings in previous jobs. We've all experienced this feeling at some point.

This is a chance to demonstrate to our colleagues in the industry, That design isn't just an activity you do during a standard nine-to-five workday.

It's a method for exploring the world around you and gaining a deeper understanding of yourself by reflecting on various questions and sharing personal experiences.

For some, like Vanya Koltsov, it's a longing for the work of David Lynch. For others, it's personal experiences related to the difficulty of waking up and the number of alarms you have to set. Still others seek out amusing coincidences or visual puns. We strive to awaken the imagination of a wide audience a little.

In general, our goal is to increase the number of exhibitions that present design itself, not just posters. Posters are certainly impressive, but we want to delve into other aspects. In this context, it is quite natural that we often encounter misunderstandings in different countries.

When you come in and introduce yourself: "Hi, I'm a photographer. Let's chat and organize an exhibition," people's reactions are usually more positive compared to if you say: "We are a studio specializing in design, but we also want to hold an exhibition."

Of course, among the artists we can highlight such outstanding illustrators and designers as Protey Temen, as well as many other talented masters. However, their number is still insufficient for society to perceive exhibitions in which design is the primary means of expressing conceptual ideas as something legitimate.

Katya Sikacheva notes that each of us encounters design daily, even if we are not experts in the field. About 80-90% of the information we perceive consists of various objects, such as mobile apps, products in our refrigerators, and billboards. This entire visual component of the consumer world is the result of the work of many designers who are like-minded people in this industry.

Undoubtedly, our impact on the world around us is great. Changes happen quickly, and design is also transforming at incredible speed. We all recognize the importance of graphic design in client projects. We would like this understanding to be shared not only by designers, but also by clients, who perceive it not just as a service, but as a form of artistic expression and a contribution to cultural heritage.

Perhaps this sounds a little pretentious, but our goal is to shape the perception of the industry, the professional field, and its professionals. We do not force anyone to become authors striving for loud statements. Moreover, we do not at all claim that designers are artists.

Our goal is for designers to be perceived as highly qualified professionals with their own opinions and experience. He doesn't just perform tasks, but above all thinks and analyzes.

I consider it necessary to remind other designers that they have the right to express their point of view, and to support them in this.

We observe our colleagues in the field of architecture with great respect. In our opinion, they have succeeded in radically changing public opinion about their profession in Russia over the past decades.

The phrases "architects" and "interior designers" evoke associations for us with highly qualified specialists whose opinions are worth listening to. We also strive to contribute to similar transformations in our field.

Artem Matyushkin: This arises because the public space offers an opportunity for non-client-oriented experimentation. Such research can manifest itself in various forms: sometimes it is entertaining, in other cases it can be philosophically complex or of an introverted design type.

The location plays a significant role. A striking example is a Japanese exhibition called Hackability of the Stool, where designers explore different ways to adapt stools to different needs.

Today, we see many exhibitions, projects and publications in the field of architecture that touch upon important philosophical issues on a global level. At the same time, design is generally aimed not at abstraction, but at practical, manual execution. This aspect remains relevant, as both architects and industrial designers continue to focus on their core applied activities.

Nevertheless, it is important to create a field—a pun intended—and an environment in which designers can feel more comfortable and engaged in thinking more broadly without abandoning their core responsibilities.

Escape the Routine

Artem Matyushkin: In a sense, we apply the concept of a routine meter as a way to free ourselves from the daily monotony. One of our first watch faces is dedicated specifically to the Non-Objective operating hours. While dated, it captures the idea that working hours seem endless, while everything in between seems to shrink and fade into oblivion.

Nevertheless, this project proved to be a great escape from the daily grind. We worked on it extensively with fifteen designers. We had weekly calls to discuss updates. It was clear that for us, this wasn't just another work task, but a fascinating exploration. This project has become a real find for the entire team and a labor of love.

Project participants: Artem Matyushkin, Liza Tyutyaeva, Vitalik Gachkovsky, Vanya Koltsov, Masha Krasina, Vlada Oleynik, Lena Gavrilenko, Dasha Levashova, Boris Satin, Karim Bolgari, Gleb Kulikov, Roman Belyakov, Katya Prim, Katya Sikacheva, Anya Emets, Daniil Shabak and Ilya Simantovsky.

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Read also:

• Not everyone will be able to get to the future: a frank conversation with the Non-Objective studio.
• "I have a great interest in Asian authors": who should a designer pay attention to.
• "No business can exist in complete isolation." Conversation with Arina Zhuravleva.