Ideation
Solarium asks the room to measure the time if holds. A gnomon is placed on the window to create a window sundial whose shadows are read on the ground. In these sketches, the markers denoting time are columns which will then cast their own shadows.
The windows in my apartment, turning each room into a time counting device.
Prototype: Very Accurate and Moral Sundials
Two sundials were created to experiment with tracking time. These two had hopes of being accurate. The left was an attempt to prototype and bring Solarium (above) to fruition. Unfortunately, sunlight evaded New York this weekend and I could not test out where sun and shadow may fall.
A window sundial facing West (source: https://www.sundialzone.com/en/sundial.php).
A 3-D printed Korean sundial, angbu-ilgu (source: https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/various/portable-portable-angbuilgu-korean-traditional-portable-sundial) with the gnomon elevated at New York’s latitude.
Prototype: Water Refraction Sundial
My partner had an idea to make a sundial whose gnomon shadow would be cast into water. By combining a sundial and an unfaithful interpretation of a water clock, we would make something totally useless for tracking accurate time. Experiments concluded that shadows do not change position significantly when cast into water, regardless of whether the gnomon itself was submerged or not. Rather, without the gnomon, the light became concentrated and appeared to point to the time. This worked best when the light source is closer to the “horizon” rather than higher up in the sky.
Water Refraction Sundial
Experimenting with water and light.
Experimenting with water and light.
Cutting out dial numbers to quickly prototype and rearrange.
The sundial with an iPhone flashlight as the light source.
The sundial with an iPhone flashlight as the light source.