Circa is a twelve-part light sculpture made up of rings that present circannual light levels on earth's surface. Light is the primary zeitgeber or...
Circa
Royal Botanic Garden Sydney
2000 NSW
Australia
Access and Inclusion
Event Details
Artists:
Limbic Cinema
(United Kingdom)
/
Joe Acheson
(United Kingdom)
Circa is a twelve-part light sculpture made up of rings that present circannual light levels on earth's surface.
Light is the primary zeitgeber or time giver and is therefore the most responsible factor for setting endogenous clocks in plant and animal life. The arrangement of circles also makes the imperceptible oscillations and feedback loops that occur on a cellular level visible to the human eye. These mechanisms are the basis for the circadian clock that governs some of the behaviour of plants, animals, and humans.
Each ring represents one month of the year. The total circumference of each circle represents an average of light levels across that month over the course of one day. If the total circumference of the circle represents 24 hours and the average number of daylight hours in January is eight hours, a third of the circle will light up.
This conceptually driven arrangement borrows patterns, rhythms and data from nature. It uses the circadian cycle as a reference for setting the bpm in the music, the loop lengths for the movement of light, and the light intensity. The resulting 33-metre long installation resembles a three-dimensional clock, where time and light can be seen corkscrewing into the distance.
Created by Limbic Cinema, the installation was originally developed with the support of Shrinking Space as part of The Wonder Project and exhibited at Wakehurst Gardens in the UK. The concept was developed with the help of scientist Anne Vischer at Kew Gardens.
Country represented by installation: United Kingdom