Above: Wavehenge gracing the cover of The Key West Citizen, September 19th, 2020
Calculating the new locations for the Benches in order to have the shadows align in the new southern latitude.
Truman Waterfront Park, Key West, Florida
September 12, 2020 to Present
13 x 45 x 34 ft (4.0 x 13.7 x 10.3 m)
Created as a commission from the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and the Art Students League of New York's Model to Monument fellowship program for large-scale public art.
Wavehenge’s new permanent home is in Key West Florida, near Mile Zero of U.S. Highway 1 and marking the beginning of the Florida Keys Sculpture Trail.
Many thanks go out to everyone who worked to make this a reality. Special thanks to philanthropist John Padget and the late Jacob Dekker for their gracious funding and enthusiastic support, Elizabeth Young and the Florida Keys Council of the Arts, Tom Tacik and the Art Students League of New York.
Description:
The sundial consists of a vertical cresting wave surrounded by benches that match the shape of the shadow as it moves across each day.
The benches were designed like floating ‘rafts’, bobbing in the wake of a cresting wave. And their shape holds a secret…
On each solstice and equinox, the shadow and benches align.
But doesn’t the shadow move throughout the day? Yes!
So on a solstice or equinox, what TIME will it align? When the time equals the date!
The shadow on the 4 different days at the 4 different times set the original northern latitude of Riverside Park North, New York, NY.
The shadow will land exactly on the outline of one ‘raft’ when the hour and minute of the day matches the month and day of the year.
For example, the Winter Solstice occurs on December 21st, or 12/21, so the shadow will align perfectly with the ‘raft’ that is due north at 12:21pm on 12/21.
The dates and times are (clockwise from left):
Autumn Equinox = 09/22 @ 09:22am
Winter Solstice = 12/21 @12:21pm
Spring Equinox = 03/20 @ 03:20pm
Summer Solstice = 06/20 @ 06:20pm
How does one arrive at such a design? RESEARCH!
Sculptural Sun Dial Shadow Study #1
3D simulations showing the shadow’s movement on the solstices and equinoxes. Surprising results!
Sculptural Sun Dial Shadow Study #2
4 3D sun simulations using one specific time of day as the seasons vary.
All 4 times were then overlaid just for visual effect.
the nuts and bolts…The dates and times shift due to our 365 ¼ day solar years, so the dates are calculated from the average over a 100 year span:
Spring Equinox = Mar 20 2:28am EST (Mar 20 7:28 UT)
Summer Solstice = Jun 20 7:44pm EST (Jun 21 0:44 UT)
Autumn Equinox = Sep 22 11:47am EST (Sep 22 16:47 UT)
Winter Solstice = Dec 21 8:53am EST (Dec 21 13:53 UT)
Well that’s magical…
These dates are also the cardinal points for the astrological zodiac, with the sun in zero degrees...
Aries on the Spring Equinox
Cancer on the Summer Solstice
Libra on the Autumn Equinox
Capricorn on the Winter Solstice
Source: https://greenwichmeantime.com/timepiece/clock-astr