Meridiem

Time feels linear when we think of yesterday's mistakes or see a seed start to sprout from the soil. But like the orbits of the planets, standard clocks move in a cyclical, repetitive manner. Xander Maclaren designed a device to simultaneously observe the contradictory cyclical and linear models of time. Starting by reducing a clock down to its base mechanism, he created an abstracted timekeeping machine using standard mechanical parts. Once an hour, a clock hand pushes down on an ink-filled pipette until it starts dropping ink into a container of water. The ink branches out as it sinks, each time forming unique, momentary structures before gradually dissolving. The clock hand inevitably keeps turning. The swirling ink shows what has happened and will never happen again.