Eternity
(24 hours of eternity)
This outdoor sculpture titled 'Eternity' (24 hours of eternity) references ancient sundials that tell the time via the earth’s transit of the sun. The measuring of time has always marked the rhythm of each day – where the rhythm has a pattern of hours and each hour within the calendar year tells us exactly where the earth is in relation to the sun. From night to day and day to night, the eternal, universal clock ticks away ensuring that life is in constant motion, that nothing is ever still and that nothing will ever remain the same. Plato said ‘the only constant is change itself’ and hence we have a time piece referring to the infinite nature of change and the constant passing of time.
Within the underlying design framework of the infinity symbol, this sculpture comprises 24 separate cylindrical granite pillars that refer to the number of hours in a day. To mark the difference of each hour, the diameter and height of the pillars change in a mathematical progression: as day changes to night the height, diameter and angled top of each pillar will change to mark a new hour within the 24 hour clock. The unique angle of the tops of each of the pillars means that sunlight will be caught and reflected in different degrees – the 12 noon point is represented by the tallest pillar with a perfect horizontal surface signaling that it is the midday hour when the sun is at its most intense and is directly overhead. The midnight hour is expressed as the largest diameter and is positioned directly underneath the midday hour.
Marion Borgelt, 2006
