Carpe Diem 24/7: 24-hour Sundial

in collaboration with Ben Coleman // supported by Dashboard

Dashboard brought Ben Coleman and me together again for their Golden Hour exhibition, curated by Oshun Layne, presented in Atlanta’s historic Oakland Cemetery.

Carpe Diem 24/7 is a sundial which functions 24 hours a day – even at night. When there is no available sunlight, an array of strategically placed lights create the necessary light to tell the correct time. As the exhibition took place in a cemetery, our project was conceived as a means to prevent the attendees of the exhibition encountering ghosts.

In his 1941 essay “La Pataphysique des fantômes”, René Daumal posits that ghosts are not entities in their own right, but rather are holes left by the dearly departed. It is therefore senseless to attempt to exorcise spirits by driving them away, instead one must find a way to fill the hole. Daumal proposes filling every available moment with activity to leave no holes in the first place.

We therefore reason that if we can just seize the day at all times – even at night – then we and the audience will run no risk of being haunted. As far as we know, it worked.

Additional information:

• Learn more about the Golden Hour exhibition on Dashboard’s website

• Interview with curator Oshun Layne on WABE Atlanta

• Writeup by Malcolm Tariq on ArtsATL