Gnomon
Gnomon as increment of growth:
As a term, ‘gnomon’ has multiple contexts and definitions, each having a relationship to another through analogy or similitude.
As observed by scientists for hundreds of years, spirals govern the arrangement of growth throughout nature on both macro- and micro-levels, such as in plants and galaxies. The biologist D’Arcy Thomson theorized this “self-similarity” in life forms: “each increment is similar to its predecessor, and the whole, after every spurt of growth, is just like what it was before.” (On Growth and Form, 1917). In these instances, “each successive increment is said to constitute a gnomon to the entire structure.” (Gazale, Gnomon, 1999). Far earlier, the ancient Greek mathematician Hero of Alexandria described a gnomon as “that form that, when added to some form, results in a new form similar to the original.”
I find these translations of form and structure through growth to be helpful descriptions when considering the transition of function at the concrete bunkers this works lives in. In addition, the scenery netting used in this sculpture has existed in multiple, previous installations I have previously created. It is as if the fabric is the platform for this incremental growth through each installation.
Gnomon as a marker of the passage of time through observed sunlight/shadow:
Further, a more commonly known context of gnomon is within our understanding of sundials, a tool long used for describing, marking, and tracking the passage of time.
Ancient Egyptians used an object which cast a shadow to track and mark time. This was called “merkhet”, or “instrument of knowledge”, and understood to be the first sundial.
Later, the Greek philosopher Anaximander and the term “gnomon”, a translation of merkhet and meaning “that which allows one to know”, was used to describe the protruding object placed at the center of a sundial.
I find inspiration in the definitions and histories of gnomon, being an “instrument of knowledge”, “that which allows one to know”, an object that casts a shadow to mark time, and a description of form through growth in time.
The work is made with hand-dyed scenery netting, a material used to support and stabilize backdrops in theater. When layered, interference patterns, commonly called “moire” (transl: “water patterns”) when in visual form, emerge, resulting in an endlessly flickering visual experience that plays out in time. The work is site-responsive to the open-air structure of the concrete bunker which allows it to be exposed to direct sunlight. This dependence on time of day and weather conditions allows the work to be ever-changing, as the varying intensity of the sun and weather affect the appearance of the sculpture. Shadows cast across the sculpture, and the sculpture casts its shadows onto the surrounding ground and walls, integrating it into the architecture and atmosphere. The colors of the netting have been painted red, green, and blue, the additive primary colors of light. The primary colors of light are made physical in this work and when layered, additional colors emerge through optical mixing. Although not physically present, hues of orange, violet, yellow, and others can be present depending on sun and weather conditions.
I think of this work as an abstraction or analogy to the multiple histories and descriptions of a gnomon.
It is a conduit for the sunlight and a place for the light from the sky to integrate with the ground and architecture. It is a channel between the land and the sky.
The form this sculpture takes has multiple references. It may be helpful for me to share the form of a standing mirror. Mirrors have a history of being named “looking glass”, notably in Lewis Carroll’s novel Through the Looking Glass. Metaphors exists here, with the looking glass representing a portal to an alternate world- reflected, distorted, and unfamiliar.