Black Rock City  

 Sundial: 1002
State/Province:  Nevada Country:  USA
Dial Type:  Equatorial Dial Condition:  No Longer Exists
  Latitude and Longitude: 40° 45.231' N  119° 16.620' W
Location:
  • This sundial was a temporary installation at Burning Man 2019 in the black rock desert of Nevada. It was burned at the end of the festival as a testament to the fleeting nature of time.
 
Description:
  • "About Time" was a 30 foot long, 3000 pound wooden pyramid. This installation projected time using two sundials: a gnomonic vertical sundial that swept its shadow of time out across the desert floor and an equatorial dial located on one faces of the pyramid. A platform at the peak of the pyramid allowed observers to become the gnomonic sundial’s apex and to experience 360 deg views of the landscape. At the end of the installation the piece was burned, a testament to the unidirectional march of entropy and time, underscoring the fleeting nature of the present moment.

    A side doorway invited visitors inside, where they found interchangeable disks of pictographs and words that allowed visitors to dynamically change the sundials inscription. These disks created shadows with shafts of light by day, and projected a fiery glow of LEDs at night. Exchanging the disks gave visitors control over the space and over time the installation evolved, altering the experience of subsequent visitors.
 
General Information:
  • Owner: Art Builds
  • Designer: Art Builds
  • Builder: Art Builds
  • Construction Date: Aug 23, 2019
 
References: Web Links:
  • Art Builds is a collective started at the University of San Diego to bring together faculty, students, and community members interested in STEM and the Arts (STEAM). Team leader was Prof. Gordon Hoople.

Attachments Available:

Last Revised: 2020-02-28 14:12