The Cube Clock is a reinvention of the clock and how we
perceive the passage of time. It is a three dimensional,
metric based, cube-shaped clock that questions the current
depiction of time in conventional circular clocks. 

 

This piece was inspired by the possibility of time having
multiple dimensions for it is parallel to space, three
dimensional concept. If time is truly the fourth dimension
as many theorize, its shadow should be a 3D object,
just as the shadow of a 3D object is 2D. By creating a three
dimensional clock, it not only symbolizes time as a multi-

dimensional phenomenon, but also represents the
shadow of time.

In order to create the illusion of an electronic cube
clock, we built a paper cube onto which we projected
an animation of how the clock would work.

Using the technology of "projection mapping," we were able
to map out the different perspectives and foreshortenings
created by the three dimensionality of the cube into a two
dimensional animation.

Each face of the cube has ten bars of light and each bar
represents one minute. Due to the nature of the cube
having six faces, there are ten bars on each face, sixty bars
total, representing 60 minutes, or one hour.  Each bar
grows over the course of one minute “filling up” the entire
cube like a digital hour glass. This is how the minutes
are measured.

As the minutes are measure through the bars, the color
of the lights on the cube indicates what hour it is. There
are 12 different colors and 2 different shades of each color,
each corresponding to a different hour. The lighter colors
indicate the AM while the darker colors indicate the PM.

We also used the 12 edges of the cube as a calendar.
The number of "blacked out" edges correspond to
the month. For example, if there are eleven blacked out
edges, the cube indicates the month of November.

Final Time Project

Spacial Dynamics — Gareth Jones

RISD Fall Semester 2013