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Clocked Out shows the world being destroyed from inside the spacecraft responsible for it. The pilot is not presented as a terrifying villain or powerful conqueror. He is an exhausted, distracted person surrounded by fast food, marijuana, clutter, flashing controls, and a catlike alien companion. While the planet disappears outside his window, he treats the end of the world like another ordinary shift he is trying to survive.
I created this piece while working in retail at Urban Outfitters. I had grown tired of the repetition of working in clothing, completing the same tasks, having similar conversations, and returning to a routine that felt disconnected from anything I actually wanted. Destroying the world became an exaggerated fantasy of escaping that cycle. It was not about literally wanting everything to end. It was about wanting the version of my life that made me miserable to finally stop.
The pizza, burgers, drinks, and scattered food represent comfort without fulfillment. They provide immediate pleasure but cannot fix the emptiness underneath. The bong represents another form of temporary escape. Marijuana could quiet an overstimulated mind and make an exhausting routine feel easier, but it could not change the reality waiting when the effect wore off. Everything inside the ship helps the pilot avoid thinking about what is happening outside of it.
His alien companion resembles a cat because animals can provide comfort without judgment or expectation. While the human world feels demanding and repetitive, the creature simply remains beside him. It may be the only relationship inside the spacecraft that feels uncomplicated and genuine.
The idea was inspired by a painting that hung in my childhood home showing a spaceship destroying the world. That painting showed the destruction from the outside, but I always wondered what was happening inside the ship. In my imagination, there was no highly organized alien army or dramatic final battle. There was only a tired person eating comfort food, getting high, hanging out with his strange pet, and pressing buttons because he had stopped caring about the consequences.
Clocked Out uses bright colors and cartoon humor to disguise a darker feeling: the desire to escape a life that has become unbearable in its repetition. The pilot has enough technology to destroy an entire planet, yet he still appears bored and unfulfilled. The piece asks whether destroying everything would actually create freedom or whether we would carry the same emptiness with us into whatever world came next.
Clocked Out shows the world being destroyed from inside the spacecraft responsible for it. The pilot is not presented as a terrifying villain or powerful conqueror. He is an exhausted, distracted person surrounded by fast food, marijuana, clutter, flashing controls, and a catlike alien companion. While the planet disappears outside his window, he treats the end of the world like another ordinary shift he is trying to survive.
I created this piece while working in retail at Urban Outfitters. I had grown tired of the repetition of working in clothing, completing the same tasks, having similar conversations, and returning to a routine that felt disconnected from anything I actually wanted. Destroying the world became an exaggerated fantasy of escaping that cycle. It was not about literally wanting everything to end. It was about wanting the version of my life that made me miserable to finally stop.
The pizza, burgers, drinks, and scattered food represent comfort without fulfillment. They provide immediate pleasure but cannot fix the emptiness underneath. The bong represents another form of temporary escape. Marijuana could quiet an overstimulated mind and make an exhausting routine feel easier, but it could not change the reality waiting when the effect wore off. Everything inside the ship helps the pilot avoid thinking about what is happening outside of it.
His alien companion resembles a cat because animals can provide comfort without judgment or expectation. While the human world feels demanding and repetitive, the creature simply remains beside him. It may be the only relationship inside the spacecraft that feels uncomplicated and genuine.
The idea was inspired by a painting that hung in my childhood home showing a spaceship destroying the world. That painting showed the destruction from the outside, but I always wondered what was happening inside the ship. In my imagination, there was no highly organized alien army or dramatic final battle. There was only a tired person eating comfort food, getting high, hanging out with his strange pet, and pressing buttons because he had stopped caring about the consequences.
Clocked Out uses bright colors and cartoon humor to disguise a darker feeling: the desire to escape a life that has become unbearable in its repetition. The pilot has enough technology to destroy an entire planet, yet he still appears bored and unfulfilled. The piece asks whether destroying everything would actually create freedom or whether we would carry the same emptiness with us into whatever world came next.