Focus on this artwork and discuss the Analysis and Interpretations.
With "Untitled" (Perfect Lovers) González-Torres wanted the audience to infer their own meaning. Margarita Vega, noted that "What differentiates "Untitled" (Perfect Lovers) from regular clocks is nothing physical, but rather the assignment of function that will be reflected on some kind of status indicators". Art critic Robert Storr expanded on this, writing:The meaning of the image hinges on the projected fantasy of the person who stands below and looks up at an enlargement of the most eroticized zone of their everyday lives, the psychological site of their greatest longing, insecurity and discomfort, the nearly neutral screen on which memories or expectations of happiness, frustration, or deprivation can be played in the mind's eye.
An ambiguous work of art, many have interpreted the works to be a commentary on González-Torres' partner's struggle with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and death at large. In 1987, González-Torres' partner Ross Laycock was diagnosed with AIDS. In a letter sent to Laycock in 1988, he showed a rough sketch of the piece, entitled merely Lovers. In the letter, González-Torres ruminates about time, writing:Don't be afraid of the clocks, they are our time, the time has been so generous to us. We imprinted time with the sweet taste of victory. We conquered fate by meeting at a certain time in a certain space. We are a product of the time, therefore we give back credit were it is due: time. 
We are synchronized, now forever. I love you.
The piece can be interpreted as a protest against the censorship of "gay art," knowing that it would be difficult for critics to show that "money is being expended for the promotion of homosexual art," with a work of art so simplistic and abstract in nature. According to Shawn Diamond, the piece was created to "memorialize the love he shared," with Laycock. González-Torres described creating the piece as "the scariest thing I have ever done".Public Delivery stated that the two clocks represent "two mechanical heartbeats," commenting on "personal loss as well as the temporal nature of life." Museum curator Jasper Sharp believed the piece to be a memento mori which represents the short-lived nature of life. Catherine Ruello shared similar sentiments, saying that it "involves the themes of 'vanitas'." Director of the Art Institute of Chicago James E. Rondeau noted that it was start of González-Torres' "examination of coupling and mortality".Adair Rounthwaite noted that González-Torres' use of a clock, an item which only matters to the living, is a "visual metaphor for the crossover between that time and the nontime of the dead." Rounthwaite also stated that the time measured represents life itself and that the piece was a response to the trauma of AIDS. Margaret Anne Wojton, said that "The two clicking clocks represented Gonzalez-Torres's vantage point of his anguish as caregiver and survivor." She also viewed the piece as an "existential metaphor," for González-Torres' death anxiety.Rondeau felt that the stipulation that they're identical was a reference to same-sex couples. Suzanne Perling Hudson said that although "the piece is clearly “about” González-Torres and his partner, it is also about any lovers, be they homosexual or heterosexual, and the reality of impermanence and the threat and fear of imminent loss.Shawn Diamond believed that the piece "depicted two figures always in proximity but unable to unite and become a single body." Kevin Busit echoed similar sentiments, "They'll never be one... The fabric of their being ensures that eventually they’ll end up in conflict." Isherwood felt that because the clocks could be reset, there was a sense of hope and optimism in the work. He also noted that "by connoting his queer identity, rather than “evoking it”, González-Torres allows “Untitled” (Perfect Lovers) to become both intimately personal and widely social". Helen Molesworth, chief curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art, viewed it as a metaphor for the relationship between art historian and art itself.
same-sex couples Public Delivery death anxiety memento mori Chicago acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) Institute of Contemporary Art