In exploring ways to think about this project, I was struck by 2 inherently different characteristics of time that we often conflate together:
- A natural, physical, cyclical process of change epitomized by the sun's movement around the earth
- A system of repeating units and conventions that we use to structure our lives within time
Motivation: I wanted to design something that referenced both of these components, while still being aesthetically pleasing and intuitive. The final concept was one in which the structure of the form was defined by the conventional units we use to structure our days, and the sun's motion/time passing would pour into this structure.
Structure: The view consists of one large ring signifying 1 day. This ring is composed of 24 circles, representing 24 hours, that each light up as the time of day passes through that hour, starting at the bottom of the circle and proceeding counter-clockwise (to reference the sun's movement east to west). These hour circles themselves are also composed of 60 sub-circles representing minutes and the color of each circle is a nod to the time of day with transitional colors to indicate sunrise and sunset. As an hour progresses, it's color increases in depth, almost as if being painted by the passage of time, until the full hue is reached at the end of the hour.
