We need new clocks. The project draws formal inspiration from earlier books of hours (Latin: horae), the illuminated manuscripts of medieval Europe that organized daily prayer around the eight canonical hours (matins, vespers, etc.) and often included calendars, seasonal illustrations, and a variety of short readings. My contemporary adaptation of the form offers a poetic rendition of the original hours, dividing the day into eight three-hour blocks meant to evoke the natural, psychological, and sociological rhythms of the day:
- Void (midnight to 3:00 a.m.);
- Hush (3:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.);
- Chorus (6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.);
- Transit (9:00 a.m. to noon);
- Fulcrum (noon to 3:00 p.m.);
- Doldrums (3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.);
- Convivium (6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.); and
- Denouement (9:00 p.m. to midnight).
Each block includes four elements:
- a selection of artistic and scientific images;
- a collection of readings drawn from literature, philosophy, and other domains;
- a list of natural phenomena occurring around that time; and
- a brief poetic statement, or versicle.
When you visit, the site displays content from the current hour; you can refresh your browser window or click "turn the page" to view alternate images and readings for that time. As the day changes around you, so does the site's content — a gentle reminder that the world moves in cycles, and that each section of the day has its own particular, if unpredictably varying, character.
This incipit is under revision.